Gratitude
by 50of47
Summary: War is expensive, both in terms of lives and matériel, unless you have a weapon capable of exploiting an enemy's past history. With the crisis over, Voyager's crew reflects on their journey. Takes place between "Flesh and Blood" and "Shattered."
1. Teaser

DISCLAIMER: The Star Trek universe: theirs. This story: mine. Profit: I wish.

RATING: PG-13

AUTHOR'S NOTE: "Gratitude" started life as a 90+ page story and notes, which morphed into a 65 page script once th**i**s author learned of _Star Trek: Voyager's_ open admission script policy during the final seasons of the show. It's amazing how much has to be left out, and the economies of language that are necessary to meet format and page requirements. The script was never picked up, so it's a story again, with everything back where it was, and a bit more added.

SUMMARY: War is expensive, both in terms of lives and matériel, unless you have a weapon capable of exploiting an enemy's past history. Once the crisis is finally over, Voyager's crew reflects on their journey. Takes place between "Flesh and Blood" and "Shattered."

**Gratitude**

_by 50of47_

Teaser

Captain Katherine Janeway was so completely absorbed in the report on her monitor that the ready room door's chime barely registered in her conscious awareness. A second chirp a few moments later finally interrupted her train of thought. She composed her face into command mode as she continued to work and called out, "Come in."

A cheery Neelix bustled into the room, carrying a tray containing a pot of coffee and an arrangement of lavender, pink, and white chyshara flowers. "Good morning, Captain," he said.

Janeway looked up from her report and answered his greeting with a smile. "It is now, Neelix," she said as she extended the empty mug. Her smile spread into a grin.

Neelix promptly set the tray down on the desk so he could pick up the coffeepot and fill her mug. He replaced the pot on the tray and then picked up the floral arrangement. He moved to his left to set it down next to Janeway's monitor.

Hoping to deflect an involved conversation so that she could continue studying her report, Janeway glanced up only long enough to motion for Neelix to leave the flowers in the sitting area. "Thank you, Neelix. Over there, please."

She focused her full attention back on her screen, hoping it would further discourage Neelix's ebullience, but to no avail. It only spurred him over to the other end of the desk, where he quietly set the flowers down to her left. Janeway sat back with a sigh and gave the Talaxian an exasperated glare, her concentration finally broken.

Neelix looked hurt. "But Captain," he said, "today would have been Kessie's eighth birthday. These were her favorites."

Janeway's facial expression immediately softened. She came around from behind the desk to rest a hand on his shoulder. "Neelix, they're beautiful. I'm so glad you insisted we move Hydroponics into its own dedicated space four years ago. We would have lost Kes's garden when Seven beamed all those drones over during the Borg alliance in the Northwest Passage." She reached over and touched a blossom. "Going without the fresh flowers you bring me every day would be very bad for my morale."

Neelix's face brightened as he smiled and said, "It's no trouble at all." He hesitated for a moment. "Captain..."

"What is it Neelix?"

"Do you ever wish that Kes had never come back? When she first told me that her people only lived for nine years, I accepted the fact that I would probably outlive her. Maybe this is selfish, but after she left us the first time, I was comforted by the thought that I would never have to watch her grow old and die." He sighed. "We all thought she'd gone on to a better life."

"I know," said Janeway. "And I don't think you're being selfish, Neelix. No one wants to watch a loved one fade away. I know the years since _Voyager_ haven't been very kind to Kes, but we have to hope she made her way home. She told us she could."

"You're right, Captain," he said. "Well..."

Neelix reached over and picked up the flowers to bring them over to the sitting area, but Janeway restrained him with a hand on his arm. She said, "Why don't you leave them on my desk just for today. The coffeepot can go in its usual place."

Neelix beamed and said, "Of course." Janeway returned his smile as she walked back around her desk and buried herself in her report again. She looked up when Neelix returned for the tray. "Now you just let me know the minute you want more coffee, or maybe a little something to go with it," he said. "You know the kitchen is always open for you, Captain."

"Thank you, Neelix. I will," she responded. Her thoughtful gaze lingered on him as he left to return to the Mess Hall. Janeway turned back to her report, but found she couldn't concentrate on it. A vivid memory sprang to mind of the day Neelix and Kes had come to her ready room to ask if they could join _Voyager's _crew on its journey, and she was soon lost in thoughts unrelated to any data on her monitor's screen.

She recalled Neelix's recent unguarded moments of withdrawal during staff meetings when he thought himself unobserved. Granted, his headstrong enthusiasm could be overwhelming and more than a little annoying at times, but this muted sadness that had gradually settled into the very core of his being after Kes returned and then departed for the second time six months ago was something that deeply concerned the Captain. Neelix took his duties as _Voyager's_ self-appointed morale officer very seriously, and made a believable show of being his usual upbeat self, but Janeway would occasionally glimpse the intractable loneliness behind the mask.

It was bittersweet indeed for the entire_ Voyager_ family to have lost Kes to her own evolving growth into a higher level of being. It was such a joyous, uplifting transformation for her, but Janeway still remembered the bridge crew's stricken faces looking back at her after Kes's shuttlecraft diffused in a swelling flash of brilliant white light. Add to that the gift Kes had given them when she used her new mental powers to throw _Voyager_ safely beyond Borg space, nearly 10 years closer to home. It was too much for any of them to take in all at once.

In the days and weeks that had followed, so many people shared stories with her about the different ways in which Kes had touched their lives. Her gentle nature had healed more than just the physical injuries sustained during away missions or conflicts with hostile races, or even from something as faintly embarrassing as a holodeck mishap. Kes had been a very special light that had gone out in all of their lives, and her loss in _Voyager_'s family was keenly felt.

And Neelix... For a very long time, he had been inconsolable. As their time together on _Voyager_ passed and Kes' mental abilities continued to grow, she and Neelix had drifted apart as lovers, but remained the truest of friends. Then Kes had gone ahead on her own journey in a way that no one could have ever predicted, moving on alone into an unknown future. Neelix was bereft. He had lost his entire family when Talax's moon Rinax had been destroyed in the Metreon Cascade, and now, Kes...

_At least I am with others of my own kind_, Janeway thought. _Neelix has no one, nor is he ever likely to see another Talaxian for the rest of his life._ As painful as her own loss was, at least her crew was mostly human. Neelix had left everything familiar behind when he and Kes had joined _Voyager_'s crew. Although his species was found in other parts of the Delta Quadrant, he had encountered only one other Talaxian - his old friend Wixiban - years ago, near the Nekrit Expanse.

She could easily relate to the shock and numbing finality of unexpectedly losing a cherished thread that bound one to a shared past. When Starfleet had included personal letters in a signal sent back to _Voyager_ across a Hirogen communications array some years ago, she had not expected her first message from home in over three years to be a "Dear John" letter from her fiancé Mark. As their first days in the Delta Quadrant had stretched out into years, Janeway knew that Starfleet would eventually declare _Voyager_ lost with all hands after a very thorough search and a minimum of at least a year with no word from them. She knew it was unrealistic to expect Mark to wait for her return, and accepted that he would eventually mourn her and move on, but actually holding his message with the concrete reality of it in her hand was more painful than she could have imagined possible.

Janeway still grieved the lost sense of connection to Mark, even at such a great distance, and the end of her hope for the future she had imagined with him upon _Voyager_'s speedy return to the Alpha Quadrant after the Badlands mission. She was grateful, however, that unlike Neelix, she had been spared the hurt of having to live in close proximity to a former love, and watch the one for whom she still cared deeply start to form new romantic attachments.

With the addition of Seven of Nine to the crew, Janeway had come to rely on the former Borg's superior knowledge of assimilated species when encountering races unfamiliar to her. Neelix continued to occasionally provide anecdotal information based upon rumors he heard on the Delta Quadrant grapevine wherever they stopped, but he had no practical first-hand knowledge of sectors beyond the known sphere of his travels as a trader.

The only original duty Neelix still retained from the time when he'd joined _Voyager's _crew was that of cook. He now largely assisted away teams rather than taking the lead in negotiating with various humanoid races for supplies and raw materials. He had long ago appointed himself ship's morale officer, and now also served as ambassador and liaison in first contact situations at Janeway's request. When they had been in the Void more than two years ago, he had even begun tactical training with Tuvok as a means of relieving monotony and expanding his usefulness to _Voyager_. It was enough to occupy him until an aged Kes's recent visit. Afterwards, even those new duties were no longer enough to distract him from the well-concealed ache under the outgoing cheeriness and good humor.

A sudden vivid memory of watching a dying Kes morph from youth into old age when she had time-traveled back to _Voyager's_ early days in the quadrant broke into the Captain's ruminations. She had been forced to kill her former crewmember to save her own life, and would do it again, given the same circumstances, but Janeway could not help feeling a lingering deep regret that her action had been necessary in the first place. Like Neelix, she felt that Kes had left _Voyager_ to fulfill her race's heritage of extraordinary mental powers, and Janeway was deeply saddened by the clear evidence that circumstances had been unkind to the unfortunate Ocampan.

The Captain shook off her distressing thoughts with a sigh and turned back to her report. The continuing emergence of new enemies such as the Hierarchy and Vaaduar, in addition to the occasional threat of old favorites such as the Borg, was a constant concern. She was also very aware of the potential threat from hostile members of Species 8472, despite an understanding she had reached with one particular group of them _Voyager_ had encountered a few weeks after their time in the Void. Maintaining alertness and readiness on a lengthy voyage despite well-worn ship's routine was an ongoing challenge as well.

Her current priority was ensuring the ship's continued smooth operation by securing necessary materials for maintenance and repair. Retaking _Voyager_ after the Hirogen seized the ship nearly three years ago had resulted in massive shipwide damage to all systems. B'Elanna Torres's engineering expertise kept them functional enough on a daily basis to continue their flight home and explore along the way; but without access to the repair facilities of a starbase, implementation of permanent repairs instead of stopgap measures was moving at a frustrating rate. Key systems were still being taken off-line for maintenance on a regular basis, and on several occasions, even crucial supplies as basic to ship's function as deuterium dropped so low that _Voyager_ was forced to power down to run in grey mode until a new supply could be located. It kept her mind fully occupied during the times when there were no major crises.

Overseeing the task when they had been in the Void had forced her staff into devising extraordinary measures to deal the crisis caused by the fact that there would be no possibility of taking on fresh supplies of food, fuel, or material for the projected two-year journey across the empty expanse between galactic arms. Her priority at the moment was to bring all systems up to 'Fleet specs and keep them there, and then to stockpile enough supplies for the next time _Voyager_ might find itself in a similar barren region of the quadrant once again.

The sweet fragrance of the chyshara flowers intruded upon her concentration. She glanced over at them, and for what felt like the thousandth time in recent days, her thoughts turned to Kes. Memories again flooded her mind, and her eyes misted over as she reached out to touch a blossom and whisper, "Oh, Kes..."

Janeway's door chimed, interrupting her reverie. "Come in."

Chakotay entered the ready room with two padds, prepared to give her a ship's status report. He began, "Some good news, Ca...," and stopped in mid-word when he noticed the unaccustomed presence of flowers on Janeway's desk. "What's this?"

She looked up from her screen in time to see his quick smile. She said, "No secret admirer among the crew, Chakotay. Neelix put them there when he brought me my morning coffee. It seems today would have been Kes's eighth birthday. When he told me they were her favorites, I didn't have the heart to ask him to move them."

"They're lovely, Captain."

Janeway took a moment to sniff a blossom and smile, and then shifted back to command mode. "What have you got for me, Commander?"

Chakotay handed her the padd and said, "As I started to say... some good news."

Janeway scrolled through the report as he summarized the most important points. "Impulse power is back on line, and we'll have warp in a few more hours." Shields and weapons are at 100%, and everything else checks out. Looks like we've pulled it back together yet again."

"This time," said Janeway. "I keep obsessing about what's going to happen to us if our luck runs out and we hit another void."

"Then you'll be happy to see this," Chakotay said as he handed her another padd. "Belanna's test data from the prototype coaxial drive after she factored in the latest hyper-subspace tech information Starfleet sent us in the last datastream. She told me she's gotten some pretty good readings from the last couple of firings. The tests have actually put us a couple of weeks closer to home."

"Really!" Janeway looked up from scrolling the padd and flashed a grin at him.

"It's still a little touch and go," he said, "but since we can't risk using slipstream drive again, she feels it's worth the effort. She said a coaxial interface will be easier for our systems to manage overall, and won't put undue stress on the hull."

"Not to mention keeping us all alive." Janeway called up another file on the monitor and scrolled through the second padd, comparing it against the data on her screen. She set it down and said, "Tell B'Elanna 'good work.' I'm glad she's taking another look at coaxial warp. It's the only thing we haven't tried." She went back to studying the first padd Chakotay had given her.

"I'll pass that along," said Chakotay.

"I still wish the overall news was better, though. We've come a long way back since the Hirogen turned _Voyager_ into a flying holodeck, but there's too much basic repair work still to be done for us to hold to specs for any length of time. It's a credit to B'Elanna and her staff that we haven't flown ourselves apart yet."

True," said Chakotay, "but you have to admit, we've been building toward this for quite some time. There wasn't enough tritanium alloy to finalize repairs before we entered the Void and had to conserve resources. We took care of the most vital systems, but then there was that firefight with the Malon. The stress on the hull from chaotic space not so long afterward didn't help either."

"Right," said Janeway. "I suppose it's inevitable after nearly seven years and no Federation spacedock. "We're managing to stay pretty close to where we should be most of the time, but I'm still seeing too many extra shifts because of time spent on downed systems. What I wouldn't give for a fully equipped Federation starbase, not that stopping at the Markonian outpost last year wasn't a big help."

"No argument there." Chakotay's eyes were drawn to the chyshara flowers. He reached over to gently stroke the petals of one while he quietly gathered his thoughts and listened to Janeway with only half his attention.

Janeway picked up the second padd and began scrolling though it again. "As far as coaxial warp is concerned, I'll take any compatible alien geometry that won't cause new problems and will give us back the time we keep losing to system malfunctions."

Hearing no response to her comments, Janeway looked up from the padd. "Chakotay?"

Her voice startled him momentarily, and brought his wandering mind back into focus. Chakotay looked back at her and said with some intensity, "Kathryn, we have some unfinished business."

Janeway set down the padd and looked up at her first officer with concern.


	2. Act 1

ACT ONE

I've polluted it with cream and two sugars," said Janeway as she handed Chakotay a cup of freshly-poured coffee. She'd invited him to join her on the ready room couch to discuss what was troubling him.

"Things could be worse, Kathryn," said Chakotay. "At least now you can now have a pot of coffee pretty much whenever you want. You couldn't do that for quite a while after the Hirogen occupied the ship."

"True, and we've repaired enough of the damaged bulkheads so that I'm not constantly reminded of the World War II simulation they ran throughout the ship any more," said Janeway.

"Can't say I've missed that one," Chakotay replied.

"You know, one of my two worst nightmares is finding ourselves in the Void again for an extended period of time with the shape we're in right now."

"The other one being..."

"Having to dump the core – and then never getting it back."

"Ouch. Either one would keep me up nights if I sat in the big chair," said Chakotay. "What's most likely, though, is that we'll eventually find ourselves in another void. The last time, Harry and Tom suggested converting some uninhabited areas on the lower decks into holosuites to deal with the cabin fever level. I think it's worth looking into, even at this late date. The crew needs more time away from routine than they've been getting, even if it's just in a holosuite."

Janeway began, "You can take the crew out of the Void..."

Chakotay smiled. "In a nutshell. A lot of us are getting pretty edgy. This sector is pretty desolate, even with stars outside the viewports. We really haven't had enough extended shore leave since _Voyager_ left the Markonian Outpost last year, and the nearest inhabited M-class world is still weeks away. We could use another visit to a space station, if only there was one around."

"All right. I'll authorize the holosuites, provided it doesn't deplete our existing stockpile," said Janeway.

"I'll ask B'Elanna to look into it with Harry and Tom when she gets a free moment," said Chakotay.

Janeway nodded, and paused to savor her coffee. She looked back at him a few moments later and said, "This conversation isn't about holosuites or shore leave, Chakotay. What's on your mind?"

"Kes."

"Ah."

"Most of the crew never got a chance to say goodbye, Kathryn. She just vanished in front of us the first time, and then when she returned..."

"I know," Janeway replied.

"Don't get me wrong -- I agree with your decision to keep it quiet. It would have demoralized the crew in the early days if they'd learned that some time-traveling permutation of Kes was trying to turn us all over to the Vidiians."

"Hope slips away a little piece at a time, Chakotay. Back then, we were in such a struggle for our very survival that I couldn't add to anyone's miseries," said Janeway. "What would it have accomplished?"

Chakotay nodded. "You never did tell me how you knew what Kes was planning."

"Tuvok programmed the computer to flag us with an encrypted file if Kes's name was ever removed from the crew manifest," said Janeway. "He argued that an unknown anomaly might affect our memories. It also occurred to me that the Temporal Integrity Commission might turn up to reset the timeline after one of our incursions, and that could wipe our recall as well."

"Ah, yes... the 'Janeway factor.'" They both chuckled over that.

"You have to admit, we've certainly had our share of strange phenomena, temporal and otherwise," continued Chakotay. "A message from Harry Kim to Harry Kim from some 15 or 20 years in the future... and our Harry Kim isn't the same one you left Deep Space 9 with."

"The parallel _Voyager_ six years ago," said Janeway, "and we have their Naomi Wildman as well. When you consider temporal mechanics, multiple dimensions and parallel quantum realities, anything could have unhappened, and we'd never even know about it."

"It's certainly been one very strange ride," said Chakotay.

"I won't argue that." Janeway took another sip of her coffee and flashed him a grin. "If you're looking for something for my next birthday, Chakotay, a temporal 'theory of everything' to make sense of all the weirdness we've been through would be very thoughtful."

"Then you'll be sure to appreciate the latest talk I've heard making the rounds about a mirror universe Kes and her 'real' agenda for _Voyager_ six months ago. Neelix is sick of listening to theories," said Chakotay.

Janeway rolled her eyes. "'Appreciate' isn't exactly the word I'd use." She took another swallow of coffee. "Oh, let's see... Renegade holograms fighting against 'organic slavery,' leftover paranoia because Teero Anaydis was able to manipulate someone as incorruptible as Tuvok into attacking the former Maquis crew and starting a mutiny, and lately, our 'home away from home' keeps threatening to fall apart around us. Add the speculation about Kes's last visit, a healthy dose of cabin fever, and I'd call it a morale problem."

"I think what's bothering me most of all is how all the crazy theories about Kes are affecting Neelix," said Chakotay. "You'd think the crew would have a little more consideration for his feelings, but nobody really says anything about her return visit except to speculate. Neelix hasn't been himself for months, so the nonsense isn't rolling off his back the way it usually does."

"So you've noticed it, too," said Janeway. "He puts up a good front, but every once in a while, I see it in his eyes. Kes was his still closest friend, even after they broke up. If she'd been here after he was killed on that away mission, maybe resuscitating him wouldn't have precipitated such a major crisis of faith. He's never been quite the same since."

"I agree that it could have made a difference," said Chakotay. "He probably would've handled the emotional fallout from her last visit better."

Janeway paused for moment to take another sip of coffee. "How long has it been since Kes left us the first time? I know it's been more than two years now."

"Nearly three, Kathryn."

"That long!"

"I know. It doesn't seem like it, but I think that's just her little visit six months ago coloring our perceptions." Chakotay paused for a moment to sip his tea, and then said, "I'm not familiar enough with Ocampan customs to know how they mark life passages, but I think it would help us to mark the end of _our_ grieving."

"Yes. I've been unable to get her out of my mind for days."

"Not to change the subject, but aren't we about due for Prixin?" Chakotay asked.

"Overdue, actually," said Janeway. "Some crisis always came up, and I've had to ask Neelix to postpone it several times already." She took a moment to sip her coffee before saying, "What do you have in mind?"

"Prixin celebrates family ties," said Chakotay. "I'm thinking Neelix might be able to incorporate something into this year's festivities to remember and honor Kes, and lift our spirits at the same time."

"You know, that just might work." Janeway tapped her combadge and summoned Neelix to the ready room. Turning back to Chakotay, she continued, "Kes may be somewhere in another dimension, Chakotay, but she's still a part of this family."

"True. Neelix makes the emotional welfare of this crew his highest priority, so I think he'll take to the idea."

***

At the same time in Sickbay:

"Um-hmm... Um-hmm...," mused the Doctor to himself as he examined his patient in Sickbay.

Neelix sat on the surgical biobed with his eyes closed, undergoing a scheduled medical checkup. A cortical monitor was affixed to his forehead, with another one behind his ear. The Doctor continued to scan him with a medical tricorder, checking the Borg nanoprobes in his bloodstream for any signs of rejection. Neelix opened his eyes and asked, "And how are those busy little assimilators today, Doctor?"

"Please remain still," the Doctor replied. "These are very sensitive readings."

Neelix sighed, closed his eyes, and tried to relax. He began to review his mental checklist of preparations remaining to be finished for the evening meal as the Doctor continued his examination.

"Hmmm..."

Neelix's eyes popped open in alarm, and a nervous expression crossed his face.

Noting his patient's concern, the Doctor said, "No need to worry, Mr. Neelix. Your nanoprobe therapy is proceeding quite well. As a matter of fact, we can think about lowering the dosage again and lengthening the time between injections. Now lie back while I take some final readings." Neelix complied and tried to relax as he once again turned his mind to dinner preparations.

"Janeway to Neelix. Please report to the Ready Room."

At Janeway's summons, Neelix opened his eyes with a start, and then flew into a state of high agitation. He sat up quickly and began to chatter nervously. "It's about lunch. I just know it. It's too late to change it now."

"I was unaware that one of the benefits of nanoprobe therapy was the ability to read the Captain's mind," said the Doctor in his customary acerbic tone.

"You don't understand, Doctor. You weren't here when it happened."

"When what happened?"

"You were on the away mission to that ship in the Alpha Quadrant," Neelix said. "Well, you know what a 20th century aficionado Mr. Paris is, so I decided to surprise him and try out my Alpha Quadrant recipes at the same time. I'm sure you're aware that I need a marketable skill for when we reach Earth."

"Get to the point, Mr. Neelix."

"I prepared a classic American dish that I found in the culinary database."

"And?"

"Half the crew ended up in Sickbay with indigestion. Tom and Harry have never let me forget it. I finally get up the courage to try the recipe again today..."

"Yes... Now that I think about it, I _did_ read that report. I'll put Sickbay on yellow alert," said the Doctor with a smirk.

Neelix winced at the sarcastic comment and jumped off the biobed. He started for the door, saying, "I'm sorry, but I have to go. Can't keep the Captain waiting." A hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Doctor?"

The EMH reached over and plucked the two cortical monitors from Neelix's head. "_Now_ you may go. I want you back in here after you've seen the Captain. We're not finished with your examination."

"Will do, Doctor," Neelix tossed over his shoulder as he rushed from sickbay. Once he reached the corridor, he ran all the way to the turbolift.

***

The Ready Room:

"You're right, he does genuinely love this crew, Chakotay. I had serious doubts when he appointed himself morale officer, but he's made such a difference that I don't worry about being without a ship's counselor any more," Janeway said. "If he hadn't taken on the job, I would've had to create the position and promote him to it."

They shared a laugh, and at just that moment, the ready room door chime rang.

"Come in," Janeway called out. The doors opened to admit a flustered and babbling Neelix.

"Ah… Captain... if it's about my cooking, I've already adjusted the number of jah-lah-bee-nohs I'm using in 'Rodeo Red's Red Hot Rootin' Tootin' Chili'... there won't be any medical emergencies like the last time... lunch will be just fine..."

"That's jalapeños, Neelix, and a little bit of one of those goes a very long way," said Chakotay with an absolutely straight face. He glanced over at Janeway, who mouthed "jah-lah-bee-nohs" with a quizzical expression. She met his eyes briefly as she covered her mouth with her hand and struggled to hide a smile. Neelix's cooking was "interesting" in the best of times.

"I'm sorry, Commander. Say again?" asked Neelix.

"Jalapeños", replied Chakotay. He tried to draw Neelix's attention long enough with his explanation to give Janeway a chance to regain her composure. "It's a small chili pepper that can be either green or red. It's used in Mexican cooking on Earth."

"I see."

As he spoke, Chakotay slid over farther left on the couch, opening up a space for Neelix to sit between him and Janeway so that they could all comfortably see one another as they conversed. The Talaxian sensed the implied invitation, but was hesitant to join them.

"Have a seat, Neelix," said Chakotay. "This isn't about lunch. The Captain and I were discussing crew morale, and we felt you might have a solution for us."

"Always glad to help, Commander," Neelix replied.

"Neelix," Janeway said, "This is a matter of some sensitivity, so it needs your special touch. Chakotay pointed out that when Kes left us some time ago, we never had a chance to say goodb..."

"You're not proposing some kind of memorial service, are you Captain?" Neelix broke in, obviously distressed.

Janeway rested her hand on his shoulder for a moment as she hastened to reassure him. "No, of course not, Neelix. I'm convinced she's somewhere in another dimension -- we just don't know where yet."

"Do you think maybe there's a chance that Kes is with Suspiria in Exosia? I don't think she'd want to join Tanis and the others on their array," Neelix said, referring to the colony of Ocampa under the care of the Caretaker's mate.

"I don't think so," said Janeway. "Exosia is a subspace world and accessible to our scans. After Kes threw us past Borg space, subspace is the first place we looked. If she was there, I'm sure she would have sensed we were looking for her and found a way to let us know she was all right."

Chakotay added, "Neelix, we run a full subspace sweep whenever we enter a new sector. The Captain had B'Elanna add a special subroutine to our sensors that automatically scans for Kes's lifesigns. We just haven't found anything so far."

"Commander, I hope she's anywhere but with Susperia. That witch was teaching the Ocampa under her care to be arrogant and xenophobic. I would never want that for my Kessie. She wouldn't be happy there."

"I think you're right, Neelix," said Janeway, "especially if Tanis was any example of Suspiria's protégés. He seemed more concerned with power and domination instead of using his abilities for the benefit of others."

Chakotay brought the conversation back on topic. "Neelix, I feel that what's been bothering all of us for some time is that we never had a chance before Kes left to tell her how much she meant to us. We expected her to be with us for the rest of her life, so we took her for granted."

"So did I, Mr. Chakotay, so did I," said Neelix.

"We were hoping that you might know of some Ocampan or Talaxian custom that would help us finally come to terms with her leaving us," said Janeway. "We both felt the crew might appreciate a chance to honor Kes as part of Prixin. What do you think?"

"Actually, Captain, I think the crew would enjoy that. They've told me so many wonderful stories." Neelix's gaze drifted off for a moment as he recalled a fond memory. "To the adventure..."

"Neelix?" asked Chakotay.

"That was the toast Kes and I drank together our first night on Voyager."

"Go on," said Janeway.

"First, if I might say, Captain, Seven joining us as Kes was leaving marked a real turning point for the crew. So much of what we now take for granted is Seven's doing," said Neelix. "That wonderful Astrometrics lab, regular messages from Starfleet, more than halfway home with a little help from a transwarp coil..."

"But..." said Chakotay.

"When Kes left, it's as if Voyager lost its soul," said Neelix. "Maquis or Starfleet didn't make any difference to her. As morale officer, I depended on her compassion and tolerance to help smooth things over when we were all the family we had. Now that there's regular messages from home, the crew doesn't turn to each other the same way they used to. It's taken a little time for the change to happen, but it just doesn't feel like the same close-knit family any more."

"I've noticed it too, Neelix," said Janeway. "Kes had such a contagious sense of wonder that it made being lost almost like an adventure for the rest of us. Now that home feels like it's almost around the corner, we're behaving more like science professionals on a long-term deep space mission."

Neelix glanced away for a moment and then asked, "Just a thought, Captain, but do you remember the very early years and what they were really like? We've never once taken the time to acknowledge just how far we've come. Kes played an important part in the early days of life aboard _Voyager_."

"You're right, Neelix," said Janeway. "Focusing on what we've accomplished together as a united crew would raise morale and draw us closer together as a family at the same time."

"It's a good idea, Neelix," said Chakotay. "We could probably use a little self-congratulation right about now."

Janeway rested her hand on her morale officer's arm. "This means a great deal to me personally, Neelix. I still feel a very strong connection to Kes, but I need to say goodbye, at least in this dimension. I want to celebrate her life and spirit. As far as I'm concerned, Kes is an absent member of this family who's just away on a journey for now." Janeway's eyes misted over and her voice faltered slightly as she finished speaking.

Neelix listened quietly, and when he saw emotionally moved Janeway had become in speaking of Kes, he reached over and took her hand, saying gently, "Consider it done, Captain. Kessie often told me how much your concern for her happiness meant to her." He smiled delightedly and said, "Why, I feel the creative juices flowing already. You just leave everything to me." Neelix squeezed the Captain's hand in reassurance.

Janeway returned his smile and said, "Thank you, from both of us." The three stood and had just started down the stairs from the sitting area when the ship lurched heavily and began to shudder. Janeway and Chakotay grabbed for the railing and managed to keep both themselves and Neelix upright.

"Janeway to the bridge. Report."

"Captain, we're encountering severe subspace field distortions and significant temporal eddies," responded Tuvok. "Gravimetric flux density readings are higher than expected for this type of anomaly, and there is no localized source on long range sensors as yet. It would be inadvisable for us to proceed further until we can obtain more precise readings."

"Agreed, Tuvok. All stop and go to yellow alert. We're on our way. Janeway out."

Neelix was uncertain how to proceed with the plans they had discussed. "Uh, Captain...," he began.

Janeway turned to him and said, "We're not going to postpone Prixin again, Neelix. The ship's not under attack, so I don't expect this will take very long. The crew is going to be a little busy until we've determined exactly what we're dealing with, but ask them to help you whenever they're free. Be ready to broadcast a date and time on your "Good Morning, _Voyager_" comcast in the next few days."

"Gladly, Captain," Neelix said with a broad smile.

Janeway patted his arm and said, "Dismissed."

Neelix turned to leave as Janeway and Chakotay started for the bridge. The ship lurched heavily again as another violent jolt sent all three sprawling to the deck.

*******

The ship lurched yet again as Janeway and Chakotay dashed onto the bridge from the ready room. They grabbed for the nearest fixed objects to steady themselves as _Voyager_ continued to shudder.

"Harry, stabilize us before we shake apart," Janeway ordered.

"Unable to compensate. Gravimetric fluctuations are too great, Captain," Kim said.

"Initiate a series of localized tachyon bursts_._ That should neutralize the worst of the temporal eddies."

"Done."

"We need to get out of range before we try to investigate this. Tom, move us back along our previous heading, full impulse only. Go to all stop once we've cleared the phenomenon."

"Full impulse, aye," responded Paris. "I don't need to trigger a subspace rupture today by going to warp." The shuddering gradually diminished as the course change and tachyon bursts took effect. "I think I can live with this level of shake, rattle, and roll until we know what's causing it."

"Works for me," said a queasy Chakotay, looking somewhat worse for wear.

Harry Kim looked up from his station and said, "Captain, the temporal waves extend in all directions and emanate from a point approximately 8 light years away. Sensors show high chroniton particle readings. Scans are negative for transwarp conduits or cloaked ships."

"It would appear we are dealing with yet another temporal anomaly, Captain," Tuvok reported.

"Charming," Janeway said as she rolled her eyes at the prospect. "I make a point of spending my career avoiding them, and they find me anyway."

"Not your fault, Captain," observed Paris. "The Delta Quadrant breeds them like tribbles and supplies the rest of the galaxy."

"Glad you cleared that up for me, Lieutenant," said Janeway. She turned to Ops. "Temporal signatures, Mr. Kim?"

"Very faint, Captain."

"Enough for a level two temporal scan?"

Harry Kim tapped his console. "Scan in progress."

"A Class I sensor probe would provide more concrete answers," suggested Tuvok, "even at this distance."

"Do it."

"Probe launched."

Janeway turned to Kim. "Route the telemetry and scan data to Astrometrics. I'll work on it with Seven from there."

"Aye, Captain."

"Maintain yellow alert and hold position here, Commander," said Janeway to Chakotay as she headed for the turbolift. "You have the bridge."

***

Astrometrics:

Seven of Nine was already at work trying to determine the source of the temporal eddies that had been buffeting the ship. She had extrapolated enough data from telemetry already received to project a map of the region onto the Astrometrics dome, which she then overlaid with a grid. Seven was so deeply engrossed in her calculations that she barely looked away from her console as Janeway entered the room.

As the Captain stopped next to her and looked up at the map, Seven began, "Preliminary data suggests a black hole binary system as the source of the temporal waves _Voyager _has been experiencing."

She then tapped several commands into her console. A single grid square zoomed up to reveal the binary system, with a view of interstellar gases from an orbiting star swirling into a dark center. "Spatial grid 053: there is a red supergiant Type O companion star orbiting a black hole. The system exhibits unusual properties, given the mass and rotational speed of the singularity. There is also an event horizon present."

"Then we shouldn't be experiencing any temporal phenomena from the binary system, Seven," said Janeway. "Warp specialists have discovered an entire class of hyperbolic warp trajectories with this type of system that would allow starships to time travel, but Harry shouldn't be reading chronitons at this distance. We would have to be in much closer to a gravitational source as powerful as that black hole."

"Curious… The mass of the singularity is growing far too slowly for the amount of stellar matter it is drawing in," said Seven. "X-ray emission levels are flawed as well. I require further data if I am to ascertain the reason for the discrepancies."

"This system is worth investigating if we can shield ourselves from its effects. We've never encountered anything quite like this," said Janeway.

"With an exact temporal variance, I could calculate remodulations for the shields that would offer some degree of protection. Again, I require more data."

"Tuvok launched a Class I sensor probe just before I left the bridge," said Janeway. Try to extrapolate the variance from the probe data, Seven. We'll use the multispatial probe if we have to, but I'd hate to lose it."

Before Seven could respond, _Voyager_ lurched hard several times in quick succession and then went to red alert. Janeway tapped her combadge.

"Janeway to the bridge. Report!"

"We're under attack," responded Chakotay. "We were scanned and then a Hirogen ship appeared dead ahead and immediately opened fire."

"Hirogen?! We're beyond their space."

Kim's voice came over the com. "It was definitely Hirogen, Captain. I have a dicyclic warp signature on sensors. There was no advance warning, and about a 20 second data lag on instruments after the ship appeared. We had to identify it visually. I don't have an explanation."

"We'll explain it later, Harry. Tuvok, continue to return fire. I'm on my way." Janeway turned to Seven and said, "See what you can do with the probe data while I deal with our Hirogen friends."

"Understood, Captain."

"Keep me informed," Janeway said as she turned and started for the bridge. _Voyager_ continued to shudder from the firefight.


	3. Act 2

ACT TWO

The Bridge:

Janeway charged onto the upper level of the bridge before the turbolift doors had completely opened. She raced down the stairs to stand next to Chakotay on the command deck and watched with satisfaction as her crew's efforts sent the Hirogen ship into retreat. The Captain was just as surprised as the rest of the bridge crew to see it vanish abruptly without a trace_. _She glanced over at Kim.

"Report."

"All readings vanished along with it, Captain," responded Kim. "No other vessels on long-range sensors."

Janeway next turned to Tuvok as all decks began to call in. "Damage report."

"Captain, the Hirogen vessel appeared with insufficient warning to raise full shields before it opened fire," said Tuvok. "There are only partial shields, as well as several damaged emitters, microfractures on the hull, a small breach on Deck 12, and minor damage to the navigational deflector. Repair teams have already been dispatched."

"Very well. Stand down red alert." Janeway walked back to her command chair and glanced in Kim's direction as she sat. "Anyone care to tell me what just happened?"

"Our databanks were scanned," Kim said. "A few moments later, there was a chroniton surge and a vessel appeared dead ahead, weapons already powered. Once sensors were able to get a read, they detected the Hirogen signature. I'm not seeing any warp resonance traces to indicate they were even here."

"A cloaked ship, possibly?" asked Chakotay.

Kim looked up from his station and said, "I don't think so, Commander. No warp nacelle energy emissions or polarized magnetic distortions, either before or after they appeared."

"You're our resident holographic expert, Mr. Kim," asked Janeway. "Was this some kind of projection?"

"I don't think so, Captain," Kim responded. "No photonic readings. The Hirogen ship was pretty much standard-issue, based on our past experience. And I still can't explain the chroniton surge."

"Well, whatever it was, Harry, it seems to be gone for now. Run a Level 1 diagnostic on the sensor array," Janeway said.

"In progress."

"Might I remind you, Captain," said Tuvok, "that the Hirogen Alpha who seized _Voyager_ some few years ago told you that his species had been forced to scatter themselves throughout the Quadrant in search of prey. They have no homeworld as such. It is possible that we may continue to encounter small pockets of Hirogen from time to time."

"That still doesn't explain why sensors couldn't detect the approach of this ship, or why it just vanished into thin vacuum," Chakotay said.

"Seven may have some answers for us soon, Commander," Janeway said. "She's detected an x-ray binary system at the source coordinates of the temporal waves. It may have interfered with our sensors." She turned to the helm. "Tom, I'd like to keep us here for now. Can you hold position against any possible turbulence?"

"I think so, ma'am," said Paris.

She turned back to Chakotay. "Make restoring full shields your priority, and keep us at yellow alert. I'll be in my ready room until Seven has something more definitive for us. You have the bridge."

***

The Ready Room:

Janeway walked to the replicator for a fresh mug of coffee, her pot from Neelix earlier that morning having long since grown cold. She came back to sit at the desk and return to her interrupted report. Her hand strayed briefly to the flowers again, and this time she smiled. Pushing thoughts of Kes from her mind for the time being, Janeway took a sip from her mug and buried herself again in her work.

***

Briefing Room:

At 14:00 hours, the senior staff stood gathered around the wall monitor in the briefing room. The display showed a representation of the binary system, with a large swirl of gases streaming into a central dark area.

Janeway began, "Seven's pointed out several scientific oddities for black hole binaries of this class that make it worth an extra look. Rather than changing course to avoid it, we'll take the time to gather more detailed readings." She nodded to the former drone, who was holding a padd. Seven punched several commands into the LCARS panel to overlay the binary system with a schematic.

Seven explained. "This x-ray binary system consists of a red supergiant Type-O star in orbit of a rotating black hole without hair."

"Hair?" interrupted Neelix, with a perplexed expression on his face. "Those things can have hair?"

Chuckles filled the briefing room, along with one badly suppressed snort of laughter from Tom Paris, who had covered the lower portion of his face with his hand in an attempt to muffle his reaction to Neelix's comment.

Janeway smiled and explained, saying, "It's a scientific term, Neelix. 'Hair' refers to any property of a black hole that can radiate away. 'No hair' means that the hole wasn't able to hold onto it. Most of them just have mass and rotational speed. It's really a very understandable analogy to a common human phenomenon."

Neelix thought for a moment and then blurted out, "Oh. Sort of like Tom's receding..."

"We get it, Neelix," said Chakotay.

"We need to get back on topic, people," said Janeway, careful not to look anyone in the eye as she ignored the coughing and shuffling of feet and suppressed her own snicker.

"Seven?"

Seven raised the implant above her left eye, smirked slightly, and then continued. "Using the orbital speed of the companion star, I determined the mass of the black hole to be the equivalent of 47 solar masses. It is drawing gaseous matter from the star, but its rate of growth is considerably slower than expected, given the amount of stellar matter that the singularity is drawing from the companion. I detected no subspace rift that could be siphoning away the unaccounted-for mass, nor is it being stored as spin energy. The rotational speed of the phenomenon is insufficient to generate temporal waves of the magnitude _Voyager_ experienced when it first entered this region."

Janeway continued, saying, "These particular discrepancies don't correlate with any known models in our database. I want more detailed readings of this phenomenon, but from a safe distance. Seven used the probe information we've already received to make calculations for basic enhancements to the shields which should protect _Voyager _from the worst of the temporal waves and allow us to get nearer to the system. As we get more precise phase variance data closer in, she'll fine-tune the shield harmonics to compensate for increased temporal effects."

"Lieutenant," Seven said, and handed Torres the padd containing her calculations for the shield enhancements. Torres acknowledged her with a nod and began scrolling through the padd.

"B'Elanna, I want metaphasic shields and extra shielding around the warp core just to be on the safe side," said Janeway. "How long will it take to integrate Seven's calculations into the shield matrix?"

"An hour or so, maybe less," said Torres, looking up long enough to respond, and then going back to scrolling through the padd Seven had handed her.

Janeway turned to her helmsman. "Tom, I'll need you to determine speed and distance from the event horizon so the tidal forces from that singularity won't rip us apart should we decide to go into orbit," said Janeway.

"Yes, ma'am," responded Paris. He thought for a moment and then said, "Captain, if you want those readings for Seven a little sooner, I could get us in closer with our current shielding. You'd feel it a bit more, but it's nothing we can't handle."

"All right, Tom," agreed Janeway. "Get those orbital calculations done first, and then take _Voyager_ in. We'll keep an eye on stellar radiation and proceed with caution." She then addressed the entire staff, saying, "Warn your departments it'll be a bumpy ride until Seven's enhancements are fully in place."

Before Janeway could address any further business, _Voyager_ lurched hard several times.

"Stations!" she called out.

The senior staff exited the briefing room on the run. As they reached their posts, the relief crew gave up their stations, but remained nearby to assist if necessary.

"Report," Janeway snapped as she dashed up to the command deck.

"We're under attack, Captain," responded Ayala from tactical. "Three Hazari vessels off our stern this time," he continued, as he yielded the station to Tuvok.

"Return fire." Janeway watched the aft view of the attack on the viewscreen, and saw the three ships vanish as completely as the Hirogen attacker had earlier. "Sensor readings, Mr. Kim?"

Kim quickly replayed the data from the attack on his instruments and replied, "Same pattern as before, Captain – on sensors only for the attack, and then gone without a trace. No... Wait a minute…"

"Harry?"

"This time I'm seeing residual chronitons and a signature trace identical to readings from the binary. They're extremely faint, but they're there, Captain."

"The unexplained phenomena associated with this system may have rendered subspace unstable in this sector," said Tuvok. "I would advise caution, given that our sensors appear to be not entirely reliable."

"Agreed, Tuvok."

"Captain," said Kim, "I know this is a long shot, but is it possible that the Hazari could have used Mr. Tash's tetryon subspace catapult to send themselves to this part of the quadrant? We really don't know a thing about the size of their territory – there could be pockets of them scattered all over a wide region, just like the Hirogen."

"To what end, Mr. Kim?" asked Tuvok.

"Oh, I don't know, Tuvok," sniped Tom Paris over his right shoulder. "They're _bounty hunters_. Maybe someone made a couple years travel time back to their space worth it if they could bring back _Voyager_ in one piece. There must be dozens of races who would pay a pretty high price for even a small piece of Federation technology."

"Possible, but not especially likely, Mr. Paris," said Tuvok. "It is, however, an intriguing supposition."

"Big of you, Tuvok," said Paris.

"Harry and Tom do have a point, Captain," said Chakotay. "We have no way of knowing who might have used that catapult technology after we did. For all intents and purposes, it was abandoned, but still functional."

"Save the analysis of how the Hazari might have gotten here for later, everyone. Right now, I'm more concerned about any possible subspace instability. Tom, hold position here until B'Elanna has finished the shield enhancements," said Janeway.

"Yes, ma'am," said Paris.

Seven entered the bridge and proceeded to the tactical station behind the command team. She began entering commands to transfer data to Astrometrics.

Janeway glanced back at her. "Seven?"

"I require additional readings for my analysis of the probe data," Seven replied.

Janeway nodded her permission for Seven to continue. The sound of the turbolift doors opening once again drew the Captain's glance. This time, the lift discharged Lieutenant Torres, who nodded to Janeway and then proceeded to the engineering station to begin uploading data.

"That's odd," said Kim.

"Harry?" asked Janeway.

"Long range sensors are picking up signatures from a Vidiian convoy at the extreme edge of sensor range."

"The Vidiians? We left their space years ago," remarked Paris.

"These may be isolated ships," said Tuvok. "Denara Pel did tell us that there were individual Vidiians who were resistant to the phage. Those uninfected could have used generational ships to escape the disease by seeking to colonize distant isolated territories.

"Harry, any readings that would indicate the phage?" asked Chakotay.

"Impossible to tell at this distance, Commander -- too much electromagnetic interference from the binary system. About all I can get are warp signatures, and they're definitely Vidiian."

Torres looked up from her console and said, "Does anyone seriously think they might still be after us?"

"There's that little matter of a Vidiian ship with over three hundred crew that we destroyed several years back," said Paris.

"Tom, that was 38,000 light years ago -- and anyway, they don't need to harvest organs anymore," replied Kim.

"Ensign Kim is correct," said Seven. "Mr. Kouros and his think tank provided them with a cure for the phage. Perhaps knowledge of advanced Vidiian medical techniques proved a sufficient exchange for transwarp propulsion methods."

"If those ships were out far enough from their home space to contact Kouros, then they were probably generational ships with uninfected passengers, as Tuvok suggested," Janeway said. "Just the same, let's not draw attention to ourselves. We're far enough away to avoid detection. Hopefully, the background radiation from the binary system will be enough to mask our warp signature."

"You have to admit, it's kinda odd to keep running into races we've pretty much left behind," said Paris.

"'Odd' indeed, Mr. Paris, and apparently with cloaked ships as well," said Tuvok.

"The chroniton readings would suggest that. At least we haven't seen any Kazon, cloaked or otherwise," Chakotay said with a laugh.

Janeway glanced over at him and rolled her eyes. "That's all I need."

The bridge around her erupted into chuckles, with the exception of Tuvok, who merely raised an eyebrow. "Indeed," he said, which elicited another round of laughter.

"Captain, come take a look at this," said Torres.

"What've you got?" asked Janeway as she rose from her seat and nodded for Chakotay to join her at the engineering station.

"I had Carey's team working on Seven's shield enhancements while Vorik and I worked out potential conflicts with the sensor grid. He brought this to my attention, and I thought you should see it."

"Neutrino readings," said Chakotay, as he glanced over Torres's shoulder.

"Not just neutrino readings, Chakotay," said Torres, as she pulled up additional information on her station. "Evidence of recent wormhole activity. Residual ion levels indicate it's been a couple of days since the last one opened, but neutrinos, ionized hydrogen, theta-band radiation -- it's all there."

"Any idea where they originate?" asked Janeway

"Unfortunately, radiation from the binary dispersed the secondary tunneling particle trail. I can't extrapolate a verteron exit vector."

"There are enough anomalous readings connected with this binary system to make me wonder if it could be producing conditions that favored the creation of wormholes," said Janeway.

"I'm not reading any Hawking radiation, Captain," said Kim. "Maybe they formed elsewhere, and were somehow drawn to this system through hyperspace."

"That might explain our 'blast from the past' class reunions," said Paris.

"It might indeed, Mr. Paris," said Tuvok. Paris turned in his seat to listen to Tuvok's next comments. "However, if you will recall, the aperture of the wormhole in Devore space that _Voyager_ helped the Brenari to reach was unfixed and manifested intermittently in varying locations. We were never exactly certain where it led. For all we know, both mouths could have been unstable. "If the distal aperture of these..." Tuvok's remarks were cut off when _Voyager _suddenly lurched violently and began to shudder.

Paris immediately turned back to the helm console, his eyes widening at the sight before him. A massive accretion disk churning with stellar debris was nearly on top of _Voyager_.

"Hel-lo! Where did that come from?" he exclaimed.

Janeway looked up at the viewscreen from the engineering console she had grabbed when the ship lurched. "Report," she barked, as she walked unsteadily over the shuddering deck to stand beside Paris at the helm.

"An astral eddy emerged from subspace with no warning," said Kim. "It's discharging large amounts of plasmatic energy."

"Move us away, Tom, best speed," ordered Janeway.

"Warp drive is offline, Captain. I'll see if I can outrun it at impulse," responded Paris.

"Use your best judgment. Just get us away to a safe distance."

_Voyager _continued to shudder heavily as the edge of the accretion disk began to engulf the ship. A plasma strand ignited directly in front, causing another lurch. Janeway grabbed the helm console to steady herself.

"All available power to the shields. Reinforce the structural integrity field," Janeway called out.

_Voyager_ continued to lurch violently as plasma strings within the eddy ignited around the ship. After several very long moments, Paris broke free of the edge of the astral eddy's accretion disk. The shuddering gradually subsided as the ship moved out of range of the effects of the phenomenon. The bridge crew could now easily see the massive object, which had two superheated plasma jets shooting along the eddy's spin axis above and below the churning accretion disk that was swirling into a dark center.

"All stop, and hold position here," ordered Janeway. "Harry, run a full spectral scan."

Janeway turned and walked back to her command chair. She sat and bent over the console next to her and was about to ask Chakotay a question when _Voyager_ lurched sharply and began to shudder yet again. The viewscreen showed the wavefront at the leading edge of the accretion disk dead ahead and rapidly approaching _Voyager_ once more.

"Captain, we need to get out of here before that thing eats us alive," said Paris.

"Do it."

_Voyager_ lumbered away from the leading edge of the anomaly with difficulty. Paris finally managed to take a course that maneuvered the ship above the edge of the accretion disk and safely out of range of the astral eddy's effects. The bridge crew watched with relief as the eddy began to dissipate, and then suddenly winked out of view.

"Captain, same as before – residual chronitons and a signature trace matching the binary. I'd say that..."

_Voyager_ began to shudder heavily again before Kim even finished speaking.

"Now what?" grumbled Paris.

"Mr. Kim?" asked Janeway as she turned to the Ops station for an explanation.

"I'm reading differentially charged polaric ions, Captain," responded Kim. "There's no definite fix on a point of origin. They appear to be localized in subspace."

"Full stop. Mr. Kim, magneton scan."

After several moments, Kim replied, "Scan positive for subspace fractures. The polaric radiation is definitely localized."

"There must have been a massive polaric explosion nearby that shattered subspace," said Chakotay.

Paris turned in his seat. "Maybe we've been slipping partially in and out of subspace fractures since we entered this sector."

"Another explanation for our visitors, Mr. Paris?" asked Tuvok.

"This quadrant has never heard of the Polaric Test Ban Treaty," said Janeway. "It wouldn't be the first time we've run across a civilization whose technology ran on polaric energy. What I'd like to know is why we haven't detected the ions until now. Any ideas?"

"Captain," said Kim, "Sensor readings suggest the explosion that caused these fractures happened several years ago. Quite a bit of the polaric radiation has dispersed, except for what is concentrated in the immediate area surrounding the binary. The residual effects of the blast didn't extend far enough for sensors to detect it until Tom moved _Voyager_ in closer and apparently triggered a reaction."

"I think Harry's onto something," said Torres. "We know that shockwaves from polaric explosions dissipate into the past. Combine that with temporal effects from the binary system, and there could be a time displacement every time we enter a fracture.

"It might explain what's been happening," said Paris. "We could've been slipping in and out of fractures without even knowing it. It's not like we had any reason to be scanning for them."

"Are you saying we've been randomly experiencing parts of our past?" asked Janeway.

"Exactly," said Paris. "Think of it as 'time soup.' It looks like subspace is so fractured in this part of the sector that there's no telling what'll turn up next to haunt us."

"A colorful yet accurate description," said Tuvok. "The temporal effect upon the fractures appears to be quite random and unpredictable. The laws of physics as we know them evidently do not apply to the region surrounding the binary."

"The one place in the Delta Quadrant where the equivalence principle doesn't apply, and we're lucky enough to find it," said Janeway.

"Indeed," responded Tuvok. "I would advise terminating our data-gathering."

"Agreed. It's too dangerous to stay here any longer," said Janeway. "Tom, move us away at quarter impulse. Once we're clear, set a course back to the Alpha Quadrant, warp six."

"Yes, ma'am," said Paris, "but I'd feel a lot better about our chances of getting out of here in one piece if I had a little help avoiding the fractures."

"Captain, an anti-polaric field around the ship will repel the subspace fractures and allow the helm to set a course," said Seven. "Lieutenant Tuvok, assist me. Send an anti-polaric pulse through the main deflector while I adjust the temporal shielding. These modifications will offer additional protection long enough for _Voyager_ to leave this region safely."

Tuvok looked across the bridge to Janeway, who nodded confirmation.

Kim looked up from his instruments. "Captain, the polaric readings just vanished from sensors."

"We'll maintain the anti-polaric field until we're safely away from where we first started reading them, Mr. Kim," said Janeway. "At this point, I'd rather not take any more unnecessary risks." Kim acknowledged her with a nod.

_Voyager_ slowly moved away from the binary system on quarter-impulse power. Paris reported, "We're clear," and then went to warp.

"Chroniton surge dead astern. Three ships approaching, still beyond weapons range. two more on the way," reported Kim.

"Onscreen, aft view and magnify," said Janeway.

"They're Kazon!"

Janeway glanced back at her Ops officer on hearing the shocked tone in his voice, and then quickly focused her attention forward. Two small Kazon raiders along with a large Predator class battleship appeared on the viewscreen, closing fast on a heading directly toward _Voyager_.

Tom Paris couldn't resist the opportunity to needle. "Ahh. Speak of the devil... Should've kept your mouth shut, Chakotay."

"Kazon territory is over 30,000 light years behind us, Lieutenant," snapped Chakotay as he glared at Paris. "They don't have the technological capability to pursue us this far, let alone make it past Borg space and the Hirogen." He turned to Ops and asked, "Another fracture, Harry?"

"Nothing reading on sensors," reported Kim.

"Mr. Vorik detected wormhole readings earlier which might account for the Kazon presence in this sector," said Tuvok.

"Tom, can we evade them or at least put more distance between us?" asked Janeway. "If they're going to disappear as quickly as everything else we've been encountering so far, maybe we can minimize our exposure."

"Yeah, they just might time out like the rest of our old friends. I'll see what I can do," said Paris as he increased their speed to warp 8. Despite his best efforts, however, the Kazon continued to gain on _Voyager_.

"Coming into weapons range," said Kim. "Captain, they're opening fire."

"Battle stations!"

The two smaller Kazon raiders fired on _Voyager_ as it attempted to evade the Predator-class battleship. They succeeded in driving the Federation ship onto a collision course with the larger vessel.

"Return fire," Janeway called out to Tactical, trusting Paris to maneuver them out of immediate danger and into position for Tuvok to carry out her order.

As the bridge shook violently from the impact of repeated phaser blasts, Paris grabbed his console with one hand and managed at the same time to veer the ship out of the path of the Predator. He swung _Voyager_ around to run alongside the port side of the vessel, which allowed Tuvok to strafe the battleship broadside as they flew past. A conduit exploded next to the helm, but Paris maintained control, despite the hard shaking to the bridge from continued weapons fire from the raiders.

Two more battleships appeared ahead of _Voyager_ and attempted to block off all possible escape routes while the smaller raiders continued their barrage. A conduit exploded behind Janeway at the secondary engineering station. The ship lurched violently, nearly throwing Paris from his seat, but he maintained his grip on the helm console as he continued evasive maneuvers.

"I'm showing power failures all over the ship," reported Kim. Janeway turned to look over her shoulder at Tactical.

"Dropping spatial charges," Tuvok called out. "Shields at 87%."

Voyager came about and flew alongside the first Predator again, as Tuvok pinpointed weaknesses in its shields he had created in the first strafing run. The other two battleships had again maneuvered themselves into _Voyager's_ path as Paris executed the maneuver, and were now directly ahead.

"Taking evasive maneuvers, Alpha sequence," said Paris. "Hang on."

_Voyager_ was nearly on top of the second battleship when it veered abruptly to starboard, barely avoiding a collision. The third battleship, situated behind the second and slightly to its port side, opened fire, getting off two volleys before Paris was able to maneuver the ship hard to port while Tuvok returned fire. _Voyager_ continued into open space for a short distance before being set upon again by the two smaller raiders. Fire from the two smaller ships drove _Voyager_ toward the first Predator again, which had once again maneuvered to block the Federation ship's flight path. Tuvok returned fire as Paris flew _Voyager_ under the belly of the Kazon battleship and into open space again.

"Arm photon torpedoes," ordered Janeway.

"Torpedoes armed," responded Tuvok.

"Fire."

One of the small raiders exploded. The remaining raider and one of the Predators caught _Voyager _in a crossfire.

"I've just lost warp," shouted Paris

"Janeway to Engineering. I need warp drive back. Now!

Engineering:

Torres's head snapped up from the console near the warp core. "Impulse only, Captain. I'm losing containment. Ten minutes for repairs."

"You have five. Janeway out."

Torres caught the eyes of the department around her as she shouted, "You heard her. All available hands to warp containment generator repairs."

Everyone within the sound of her voice scrambled to meet the Captain's demand.

Bridge:

"Divert all available power to the shields. Continue evasive maneuvers, Mr. Paris," ordered Janeway, as a panel exploded on the secondary engineering level.

"Evasive maneuvers, aye," responded Paris.

A conduit behind Tuvok's station exploded. Moments later, the Kazon broke off their attack.

"Captain, we're being hailed," said Kim.

Janeway stood and walked forward to the center of the command deck. "Onscreen."

Maj Cullah appeared on the viewscreen.

"What the hell?" said Paris, as he turned to look back at Janeway.

Cullah gave Janeway an arrogant stare as he motioned sharply to someone off to his right. Seska strode into view and leaned forward.

"Hello Chakotay," Seska said. "As you can see, I'm in the process of restoring my Cardassian physiology."

"Seska!" exclaimed Chakotay as he jumped to his feet and strode forward to stand next to Janeway. Lowering his voice, he said quietly, "Kathryn, this is impossible."

Janeway ignored the momentary breach of protocol and looked over her shoulder to the Ops station. "Cut audio."

"I can't," responded Kim.

One of the other battleships chose that moment to fire on _Voyager_. The Captain felt the deck roll under her feet as Seska's voice continued to drone on. Another Predator fired without warning, and the resulting stress on _Voyager's_ shields blew out panels, consoles, and conduits all over the bridge. The impact from the additional Predator's weapons fire knocked the command team to the deck as _Voyager_ lurched heavily. Janeway cried out in pain as she landed hard on her side.

It took a moment amid all the excitement on the bridge for the realization to sink in that the arcing sparks from the exploding consoles had frozen in midair and continued to hang there, and that the image on the viewscreen, and indeed the attack itself, was in a suspended state. Time itself seemed to stand still as the crew reacted with confusion to the unexpected anomaly. Only Seven of Nine observed the phenomenon in a detached manner.

She merely noted it and said, "Impossible is irrelevant."

Chakotay rolled to his feet and helped the Captain up off the deck. She turned, took a step toward Seven for an explanation, and gasped when a wave of pain shot through her when she placed her weight on an injured hip. Janeway moaned and grabbed Chakotay's shoulder.

"Doctor to the bridge," said Tuvok as he opened a channel to sickbay. "The Captain has been injured."

With a grimace, Janeway asked in a ragged voice, "Seven?"

A look of compassion flitted across the former drone's face as she began, "Captain, you have been damaged..."

Leaning heavily on Chakotay for support, Janeway ignored the pain and barked, "Seven, report."

Seven came to attention and said, "In the words of Captain Braxton, 'there's no time like the past'. This attack was a deliberately generated temporal incursion created from events in _Voyager_'s past."

The Doctor heard the end of Seven's report as he emerged from the turbolift. He reacted with momentary surprise at seeing the frozen explosions and hurried over to assist Chakotay in supporting Janeway as they slowly helped her back to her command chair.

"The proof of Seven's statement hangs in the air before you," said Tuvok.

Paris snorted and said, "It's déjà vu all over again."

Chakotay's head snapped around as he stopped walking with the Captain and EMH. "You think this is funny, Mister?" He growled.

Janeway quietly said, "Chakotay," as she caught and held his eyes to cut off the bickering.

All four Kazon ships vanished from the viewscreen and sensors without a trace.

"They're gone," said Kim.

Suddenly, the sparks resumed their expected trajectory. Chakotay immediately swung around between Janeway and the explosions, pulling her quickly against him to shield her with his body as the crew covered their faces and reacted swiftly to avoid being burned.


	4. Act 3

ACT 3

V_oyager_ hung in space at all stop while the crew searched for an explanation of the phenomenon they had just experienced.

***

Astrometrics:

Janeway stood next to Seven at the Astrometrics console and watched as the former drone reevaluated her earlier findings in light of the additional data gathered during this most recent incident. Seven was determined to figure out why sensors didn't initially detect the artificially generated temporal incursions, which she felt were behind the various spatial anomalies and attacks on Voyager. The Astrometrics dome displayed a full view of the binary system.

"My earlier conclusions were in error," she finally said. "There was insufficient time and initial data to thoroughly analyze this phenomenon for my original report. The probe was too distant from the source of the temporal waves to get readings sufficiently detailed that would have revealed the manufactured nature of these anomalies, nor was I aware of Mr. Kim's sensor data indicating the presence of chroniton particles. Based on probe data alone, I arrived at the most probable conclusion, which was flawed."

Seven entered a few more commands into her console. She tapped her communicator and summoned Chakotay and Tuvok to Astrometrics while she continued to input calculations with her other hand.

Janeway looked over at her, startled. "Seven?" she asked, but was also aware that the former drone was not deliberately flouting normal command structure.

Seven noted Janeway's reaction and said, "During the Kazon attack, my ocular implant detected certain spacetime irregularities which revealed the true nature of this phenomenon. As first officer and chief tactical officer Commanders Chakotay and Tuvok should be brought into our discussion before you take this data to the rest of the senior staff."

"All right, Seven. I'll let it go -- this time," Janeway replied. Seven nodded.

Janeway began to examine the most recent probe data, and entered a few calculations of her own on an adjoining panel of the work station. Seven continued her analysis in silence until she turned to Janeway and said, "Captain?"

"What have you got, Seven?"

Chakotay and Tuvok entered Astrometrics in time to hear Seven say, "See for yourself," as she stepped aside from the panel.

Janeway looked puzzled for a moment, and Seven moved toward her to clarify the findings. The Captain acknowledged the approach of her two senior officers with a glance over her shoulder as they neared the work station, and held up a hand to forestall any additional commentary from Seven until Chakotay and Tuvok had reached her side. She said, "Take a look at this, gentlemen," and turned her attention back to the console.

Janeway studied Seven's computations for a few moments longer, and then looked at the former Borg with a slightly perplexed expression. "Seven, assuming these calculations are correct, we're looking at... some kind of artificial temporal anomaly?" ventured Janeway.

Seven replied, "My calculations are flawless."

She then typed in several more commands to update the readout on the Astrometrics dome, and all four watched as the display revealed an unidentified object orbiting the black hole.

"More precisely, we are looking at a phased ship capable of generating temporal phenomena," said Seven. "During the incursion which produced the Kazon, my ocular implant detected spatial distortions with a modulating phase variance near the event horizon of the singularity. I routed Mr. Kim's sensor readings to my station in Astrometrics for further study. Based on that data, I ran a transpectral subspace analysis using a multispatial Borg algorithm. An interphase signature at the source of the irregularity was the result."

Tuvok looked at the readout on the console and noted, "The gravimetric flux density readings relative to the black hole's mass are too high for this to be an entirely natural phenomenon."

"Precisely," Seven replied. "I conducted a search of Voyager's database for instances of distortion fields displaying similar readings. On stardate 50307.4, Voyager's sensors recorded the specifics of an energy field structure for a graviton matrix."

Chakotay looked up at Janeway and said, "The 29th century _Timeship Aeon_."

"I remember -- our first encounter with Captain Braxton and the Temporal Integrity Commission." Turning to Seven, Janeway said, "That was before we entered the Nekrit Expanse. Harry detected unusual distortion readings just before Braxton's timeship appeared out of a temporal rift and opened fire on _Voyager_. Our sensors were running the entire time."

"Adding a projected graviton particle figure extrapolated from that historical sensor data to the reading this black hole would ordinarily be expected to produce puts the gravimetric flux reading closer to the telemetry received from Voyager's class-1 probe," Seven explained. "I am also reading a similar energy field structure. However, the mass of the black hole is still increasing at a rate too slow according to known models. I cannot account for it."

"No one in the Alpha Quadrant has the ability to create something even remotely close to a graviton matrix, Seven," said Janeway. "As I told you earlier, temporal physicists have theorized for decades about the possibility of using binary systems for time travel with certain hyperbolic warp trajectories, but Starfleet doesn't have the technology yet to even test those theories. We've developed stable interphase technology, but the Treaty of Algeron prohibits us from using it to create cloaking devices for Federation starships."

"The Treaty of Algeron," sniffed Seven condescendingly. "Starfleet's concession to the Romulans."

Janeway was startled for a moment, then she realized that Seven would have that knowledge from Starfleet personnel the Borg had assimilated during the time she was still part of the Collective.

Seven continued, "And the _Defiant_?"

Tuvok rejoined, "The Romulan concession to Starfleet."

Chakotay observed, "Seven, you probably have as much information on Starfleet and the Federation by assimilation as the rest of us had to get by spending years in Academy classrooms and out in space. What can you tell us that we don't already know?"

"Species 2955 possesses advanced temporal technology, Commander, but the Collective has no direct knowledge of it," said Seven. "Those individuals have proven resistant to assimilation."

"Species 2955?" asked Janeway.

"The Krenim," replied Seven.

Janeway said, "We made a point of avoiding their space a few years ago after Kes warned us about them long before we reached their borders. Once we came to the edge of Krenim territory, a vessel hailed us_,_ and its captain advised us that the region we were about to enter was in dispute. I had Tom set a course around it. That little detour added a month to our journey."

"Captain, we do not have much actual knowledge of the Krenim, nor do we know the true extent of their Imperium," said Tuvok. "_Voyager_ may not be able to avoid them entirely. Their empire may be far more widespread than originally conjectured. Also, given the elevated neutrino readings Ensign Vorik detected earlier, a wormhole may have afforded the Krenim passage to this sector, which would present them with the opportunity to lay claim to the region. They may possess transwarp capability of which we are unaware as well."

"Points well taken, and worth further investigation," said Janeway. "Seven, continue your analysis of the probe data. Tuvok, assist her in preparing a detailed report including tactical recommendations for a staff briefing at 1400 hours. I'll monitor your progress from my ready room."

Tuvok and Seven acknowledged her orders and turned back to the Astrometrics console to begin working on the report.

Janeway nodded to Chakotay, who left the room together with her to return to the bridge. Once they were in the corridor, Chakotay asked, "So how's the injured hip doing, Kathryn? You did hit the deck pretty hard."

"A little stiff, Chakotay, but much improved, thanks to the Doctor." Janeway paused for a moment, then decided to draw Chakotay out by saying, "I'm not the only one who got quite a jolt." They reached the turbolift and got on. After Janeway had ordered it to Deck 1, she turned back to Chakotay, laid her hand on his chest, and looked up at him intently, waiting for his response.

Chakotay flashed a quick uncomfortable grin and then said, "Seska. You're right, Kathryn -- it was a shock. After all these years, I still can't believe I never spotted her for the imposter she was, both in the Maquis and on _Voyager_."

"Don't blame yourself, Chakotay. She covered her tracks pretty well. No one on _Voyager_ suspected a thing, nor did Tuvok when he was on your ship," said Janeway.

"At least seeing her again gave us a good start on figuring out what's been going on," said Chakotay. "I was beginning to find all the possible explanations for these mysterious reappearances too convenient and more than a little annoying."

Janeway replied, "Whoever is creating these incursions must have downloaded a copy of _Voyager's_ historical database and logs when they initially scanned us so they could use it to recreate plausible events from our past. They managed to pick temporal coordinates that worked pretty well until now."

"Bringing Seska back from the dead was their first mistake," agreed Chakotay.

"I'll say," said Janeway. "They should have edited that incursion a little better." She stepped off the turbolift and said, "Seven should have more answers for us soon. Take the bridge, Commander, and set up a senior staff meeting for 1400. I'll be in my ready room if you need me."

"Aye, Captain."

Chakotay walked over to his command chair and sat. He activated the console next to him so he could set up the staff meeting, and once finished with that task, he began to check for incoming departmental reports detailing the status of repairs after the latest temporal incursion.

***

Briefing Room, 1400 hours:

At 1400, Janeway sat in the briefing room with her senior staff, listening as they floated various theories among themselves about the unusual attacks. Seven and Tuvok arrived in the middle of the heated discussion.

"I'm telling you, B'Elanna, the chroniton particle readings are too high," said Harry Kim. "It has to be an interphase cloak of some kind."

"C'mon, Harry, where would a technologically backward species like the Kazon or Hirogen get an interphase cloak? The Vaadaur could probably figure it out, but the Hirogen wouldn't know what to do with a cloak if they had it, and forget about the Kazon. It's pretty unstable technology. Even the Klingons and Romulans have lost ships trying to perfect interphase cloaking."

"Then there has to be something somewhere that we're missing, Maquis," said Kim. "Maybe Kouros..."

"I doubt Kouros would have given the Vidiians or any of the other races that attacked us something like an interphase cloak," said Torres. "It's just too dangerous in unfamiliar hands."

"Then why use it if it's so dangerous?" asked Neelix

"Cloaked ships give off emissions that make them fairly easy to detect, Neelix," replied Kim. "An interphase cloak is invisible as far as sensors are concerned."

"So someone could use it for spying," said Neelix.

"Or an anthropologist could study a culture without contaminating it by his presence," said Chakotay.

"Or to conduct classified research," said Tom Paris.

"All right everybody," said Janeway. "Let's hold the speculation until we hear what Seven and Tuvok have to report."

She nodded toward Seven of Nine, giving her permission to begin. Seven walked over to the LCARS panel on the wall and punched in a few commands to download her statistical data from Astrometrics. She called up the image of the black hole binary system overlaid with the schematic that she had shown the Captain, Tuvok, and Chakotay earlier.

Paris noted the object orbiting the black hole and needled, "See, B'Elanna? Harry was right."

Seven said, "Mr. Kim is indeed correct when he suggests a ship with an interphase cloaking device is involved in the events _Voyager_ has been experiencing. However, to clarify, it is not the primary source of the chroniton readings his sensors detected. The most probable use for this cloaking technology is to conceal a temporal weapon delivery system. In this instance, Mr. Kim, the chroniton surges your sensors detected indicate the formation of temporal rifts."

Tuvok explained further. "Sensors did not detect the true nature of what we have been experiencing because the signatures of the various incidents were matched to the same frequency as the binary system. Every alien attack and spatial anomaly _Voyager_ has encountered since entering this region demonstrates a signature identical to the binary."

Seven continued, saying, "Your own 21st century Earth history records that the Borg were able to create temporal vortices using chroniton particles. The temporal rifts _Voyager_ has been encountering are being generated with a similar highly sophisticated energy matrix. This device is unable to entirely mask the chroniton surges it generates prior to the alien attacks, but ionic interference from the astral eddy and polaric radiation occluded _Voyager's_ sensors and prevented detection of any signatures. A multispatial Borg algorithm was necessary to discern the readings masked by electromagnetic disturbance."

"And who do we have to thank for this little piece of temporal ingenuity?" asked Torres.

"Species 2955," said Seven. "The Krenim."

Janeway rose from her seat at the head of the table and nodded again to Seven, who promptly entered several more commands on the display panel to bring up another schematic.

"Seven assured me that the Krenim have the ability to create what you are seeing -- an interphase cloaked ship containing a graviton matrix capable of generating temporal incursions of limited duration. Their technology isn't advanced enough yet for reliable time travel, so instead they're using it to create very specific temporal rifts. It would appear that the Krenim downloaded _Voyager's_ historical data and scanned it for what they considered to be unremarkable events in our past that we might not remember in great detail," said Janeway. "Their luck held until Seska showed up."

"Their mistake," said Torres.

"So you're saying these attacks were conjured up out of thin air?" Neelix asked.

"That is exactly what the Captain is saying, Mr. Neelix," said Tuvok. "It would appear at this time that the Krenim are able to produce incursions of only limited duration. When their temporal generator reaches its capacity, the attacker or spatial anomaly simply vanishes. Furthermore, the last incursion they generated combined several historical elements from _Voyager's_ past with slightly differing temporal signatures at the quantum level to custom design an unrelenting Kazon attack. Fortunately for this ship and crew, that incursion was sufficiently involved to overload their device. _Voyager_ is safe for now."

"Or at least until they can repair the damned thing," said Torres. "That's why there haven't been any further incursions."

"So let me get this straight," said Paris. "They're using this temporal generator as a weapon."

"And you got it in one," said Chakotay.

Seven continued, "_Voyager's_ most recent probe data confirms subspace field distortions and unstable interphase readings."

Neelix looked perplexed as he said, "Subspace field distortions and unstable interphase... uh..." Neelix stumbled over the terminology and said, "Seven, you've lost me."

Torres jumped in, saying, "Neelix, the subspace field distortions and interphase readings indicate a cloaked warp-capable ship that exists outside of normal spacetime. Conventional weapons are useless against it."

"Didn't Mr. Kim just say a ship using an interphase cloak can't be detected?" Neelix asked.

Kim responded, "I did, Neelix. Ordinarily that's true, but in this case, the interphase generator is either a prototype, working beyond its capacity, or damaged." The Talaxian acknowledged the explanation with a nod.

"Further study of telemetry readings confirm that we are dealing with an artificial phenomenon masked to appear as a natural one," Seven said. "The binary system we assumed was the source of the temporal waves has insufficient mass for gravimetric readings of the magnitude _Voyager's_ Class I probe detected."

"Indeed," said Tuvok.

"An interphase cloak and signatures matching the binary would explain why our sensors read these as normal phenomena," said Kim.

"That was apparently the Krenim's intent," said Janeway. "You were right, Tom. Seven is convinced that we've stumbled upon weapons research, and I agree with her. It looks like we're being used as guinea pigs to refine a temporal weapon."

"That's just great," said Kim.

"Luck of the draw, Harry," said Janeway. "We just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. They probably would have used it on anyone who stumbled across their path when they were ready to test it."

Janeway continued, addressing the group at large. "If you think back to our first experience with Captain Braxton and the Temporal Integrity Commission, then you know that Federation timeships in the 29th Century will routinely use a graviton matrix to time travel. Needless to say, our present day technology is nowhere near this level, even in advanced Federation research centers. Seven recognized the technology because of a Jarbonian temporal researcher assimilated five years ago," said Janeway.

"Species 9174," said Seven. "His world was part of the Krenim Imperium. He possessed knowledge of secret research being conducted to design an energy matrix capable of harnessing the spin energy of a black hole. There were no practical applications at that time, but the purpose of the energy matrix was thought to be use as a power source for highly advanced experimental temporal technology."

"Evidently, someone has made considerable progress in five years," said Tuvok.

"Historical knowledge from the Collective indicates that the Krenim possessed temporal weapons of great magnitude roughly two centuries ago," said Seven. "It gave their Imperium dominance over more than 900 worlds spanning 5,000 parsecs. In the early part of this century, they were defeated and their temporal weapons dismantled. All specifications for that technology were destroyed, or so the Collective believed."

Tuvok observed, "It would appear that the Imperium is intent upon regaining their former position of power. A temporal weapon which can masquerade as a natural phenomenon would be of considerable value in attaining that goal. Should the Imperium manage to combine that device with transwarp capability, the implications for this quadrant and indeed the Federation itself are staggering."

Seven added, "My assimilated knowledge indicates that Species 2955 does not yet possess transwarp propulsion. However, I have been severed from the Collective for some three years now. I do not have access to the most recent data on this species."

Deep silence fell in the briefing room as the staff considered the implications of Seven's and Tuvok's words.

Janeway broke the contemplative mood after a few moments by saying, "I'm inclined to agree with Seven and Tuvok."

"Then you've changed your mind about leaving this alone," said Chakotay. "You intend to study it further."

"Yes, Commander. Besides getting ourselves home, our fundamental mission is to expand the boundaries of our knowledge. Starfleet Intelligence would certainly find this information useful," Janeway said. "The Treaty of Algeron forbids us from _using_ cloaking technology, but there's nothing that says we can't research it or temporal technology, for that matter."

"Treaty of Algeron?" asked Neelix.

Janeway explained, "The peace accord established in 2311 between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire. It's averted war between our two powers for over 150 years, Neelix."

"Ah, I see. Thank you, Captain."

Janeway continued, "Kes advised us to avoid the Krenim at all costs, so I'd prefer to do this as quietly as possible. We'll use passive scanning only. We don't have concrete evidence that the Krenim are conducting temporal weapon research, but given all the indications, we'll proceed as though they are. Harry, enhance our long-range sensors. We'll take a good long look from as safe a distance as possible. B'Elanna, our metaphasic shields will need to be reconfigured to include Seven's most recent temporal data. Coordinate with Harry to be sure it doesn't conflict with the enhanced sensors." Torres nodded.

The Doctor interjected, "Captain, if I may -- in my field, there is some practical application of interphase scanning technology in diagnosis. On the _Enterprise-D_ in 2370, Dr. Beverly Crusher used such a device to detect pulses from interphase organisms infecting the crew. The organisms were undetectable by conventional means."

"Your point being, Doctor?" asked Tuvok.

The Doctor sniped indignantly, as though his point was obvious, "These scanners can detect _any_ phenomenon of an interphasic nature…"

Seven interrupted, "One of the Doctor's interphase scanners could be adapted and integrated into _Voyager's _sensor grid. It would be a crude indicator at best, but could allow us some ability to differentiate between the manufactured and natural temporal anomalies that might occur once the ship is closer to the binary system. We are a long way from the Treaty of Algeron, Captain."

"Agreed, Seven," said Janeway. "It's a grey area, but interphasic scanning devices are permitted under the Treaty. B'Elanna, how soon could you integrate the Doctor's scanner into ship's sensors?"

"Hard to say, Captain. My first priority is remodulating the metaphasic shields to include Seven's newest temporal data. My best estimate is at least a half hour, possibly more," responded Torres.

"Seven, coordinate with B'Elanna and Harry on the shield project," said Janeway, "then work with Harry to integrate the Doctor's scanner into the sensor array once you and B'Elanna have worked out any conflicts between the shields and your sensor enhancements."

"People, we're going to do a little temporal research of our own. I'd like to send this information back to Starfleet in our next datastream transmission." She paused for a moment to hold her staff's attention and then said, "You have your assignments. Dismissed."

The staff left the briefing room, except for a troubled Chakotay. He waited until the room cleared.

Janeway noted his discomfort, and before he could say anything she asked, "Something on your mind, Chakotay?"

"Kathryn, this mission sounds pretty dangerous. Is it absolutely necessary to study this damned thing?"

"Outside of Captain Braxton's timeship, we've never encountered this level of temporal technology in the Delta Quadrant. This, or something else like it could end up coming between us and home, no matter what Starfleet is able to do to help us get back. We can't afford to ignore it," said Janeway. "Given what Seven's already told us, I'm willing to take the risk. Most likely, it's a temporal weapon in the early stages of development."

"Kes did warn us about the Krenim, Kathryn, but you seem determined in your own way to ignore her advice," said Chakotay. "Her precognitive abilities were pretty impressive. If she said 'avoid the Krenim at all costs', then I'd do it."

Janeway began to pace. "Chakotay, you heard Seven. Her knowledge base from the Collective is three years out of date. If the Krenim have accomplished this much in five years, who's to say what we'll have to deal with from them in another five years if we're still in this quadrant? What if they do have transwarp capability? Or they develop it by then? We don't even know how far their influence extends. Maybe they can travel by creating short-range wormholes like those B'Elanna and Vorik detected. We just don't know enough about them and this project of theirs."

Chakotay stared at the floor, still uncomfortable with the mission, but understanding Janeway's reasoning and actually agreeing with it on an intellectual level.

Janeway stopped pacing and walked over to him to rest her hand on his arm. "Chakotay, I don't like it either," she said, "but from a tactical standpoint, we can't afford to miss this opportunity. At the first sign we're in over our heads, I'll break off the mission. Until then, we'll proceed as discussed."

"I'll hold you to that, Kathryn," Chakotay said.

"Fair enough. Let's get back to the bridge."

***

Bridge:

Janeway stopped at Tuvok's station for a shield status update while Chakotay proceeded on to his chair, where he sat and accessed his console to catch up on departmental reports.

Tuvok looked up and said, "Captain, Engineering just informed me that temporal modifications to the metaphasic shields are complete and synched with Mr. Kim's sensor enhancements, and the interphase technology integration with the sensors is underway."

"Noted," said Janeway. "Go to yellow alert. We'll raise shields when the interphase modifications are complete." She stepped back down onto the command deck and made her way over to the helm.

"Mr. Paris, can I assume you've already made your calculations for a safe orbit around that black hole?"

"Completed and laid in, Captain. Just waiting for your order," said Paris.

Janeway acknowledged him with a nod, and returned to her command chair to wait for word from Engineering. She busied herself with reading reports on the console until then. Twenty minutes passed.

"Torres to the bridge."

"Janeway here. Report."

"Harry and Seven have just finished integrating the Doctor's scanner with Ops. We're good to go."

"Good work, B'Elanna. Janeway out." She glanced over her shoulder at Tuvok and said, "Raise shields."

Paris turned in his seat at the helm, awaiting orders. Janeway said, "You heard her, Tom. Take us in. Keep that star's corona between us and the Krenim. The electromagnetic radiation should cloud their sensors." Paris nodded and turned back to his console and began tapping in commands.

She glanced back at Ops. "Harry, it's going to be tricky from here on in -- we need to accurately track that interphase signature. Route a dampening field through the deflector grid and put it around the external sensor array. The Krenim know we're here, but as long as their device is down, why don't we run a few scans before they're able to do anything more with it."

"Acknowledged," said Kim. He punched in several commands and looked up from his station. "Done," he said with a smile, which Janeway returned.

The bridge was quiet as captain and crew concentrated on studying reports or following the sensor readings as they approached the coordinates of the black hole binary system. Paris put the ship into orbit around the singularity, careful always to keep the companion star's stellar flares between them and the Krenim ship's position. _Voyager_ proceeded uneventfully in orbit for a short time, tracking the cloaked ship.

Having completed her assigned tasks in Astrometrics, Seven arrived on the bridge and took her place at her station behind the command team.

Kim looked up from his readouts, nodded in the former drone's direction and said, "Captain, Seven's interphase modifications to the enhanced sensors are punching enough holes in their cloak for me to read a strong local dampening field around their ship. It's more powerful than anything we can generate. That's how they're able to stay just above the event horizon without being pulled in. Powering that field and the graviton matrix has got to be a huge drain on their warp core."

Seven punched a few commands into her console and observed, "There is no indication that powering the dampening field is affecting their warp core, Mr. Kim. The Krenim are drawing off sufficient gases from the companion star to convert into antimatter fuel for their energy matrix to run their technology." She turned to Janeway and said, "Captain, their drawing off of stellar gases would also explain the slower than expected increase of the black hole's mass."

Before Janeway could respond to Seven's observations, Tuvok said, "We are being scanned. Apparently the interphase cloak allows Kenim sensors to function adequately despite the stellar radiation."

"Captain, they're hailing," said Kim.

"Onscreen."

The Krenim ship's bridge and captain appeared on the viewscreen. "I am Darrot of the Krenim Imperium. State your identity," the alien captain said.

"Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship _Voyager._ We're just passing through on our way to our home in the Alpha Quadrant."

"Why have you taken up orbit in this system? This is a restricted area," said Darrot.

"Restricted?" asked Janeway.

"Our Scientific Institute is conducting sensitive research in this area. Your presence is creating anomalous readings. You must leave," said Darrot.

"How interesting," said Janeway. "We have a few anomalous readings of our own. Our sensors indicate that they originated from this binary system. We've been re-experiencing events from our past history in this quadrant, but haven't detected any naturally-formed temporal rifts that would account for them. Perhaps you can enlighten us."

"No further discussion. You have been asked to leave our space."

"_Your_ space?"

"We have military support vessels in the region. Leave or you will be fired upon," said Darrot.

During the increasingly hostile exchange, Chakotay had come up to stand behind Janeway, who turned back to face Tactical.

"Harry, mute audio. Tuvok?"

"They are no match for _Voyager_," responded Tuvok, "but there is no way to determine the danger posed by any temporal incursion they may seek to create."

"Any ships, Harry?" asked Janeway.

"None, Captain. They're bluffing."

Janeway gestured for Kim to reopen the audio channel, then turned to face the viewscreen again. Before she could question the Krenim officer further, Seven said, "Captain, we have no doubt obtained all the useful readings this situation will allow."

Chakotay said under his breath, "Seven's right, Kathryn. Time to call it a day. This party's over."

"Agreed, Chakotay, but I'm going to take one last shot at squeezing a little more information out of them," Janeway answered, just as quietly.

She took a few steps forward and said, "We're not leaving without a few answers. We've scanned this region -- it's just your ship and mine. Why are you so eager to see us go? Afraid we'll steal your temporal weapon?"

A flash of anger crossed Darrot's face as he said, "You have been warned." He cut the transmission, and a moment later, _Voyager_ shook very hard.

"Captain, I'm reading a chroniton surge." Kim looked up from his console. The words were barely out of his mouth when _Voyager_ rocked from heavy weapons fire. "Three Kazon battleships, Captain. They've triangulated our position and are firing."

"Evasive maneuvers, Mr. Paris," Janeway called out as she and Chakotay returned to their seats.

"Switching to manual override. Evasive maneuvers, aye," replied Paris.

"Another chroniton surge," said Kim. An abandoned vessel materialized directly in _Voyager's _flight path as Kim spoke.

"It's a Malon freighter. I'm detecting contaminated antimatter, no life signs," said Kim. "It's on a collision course."

"I'm on it, Captain," said Paris, "but I'll have to break orbit and get in closer to the black hole to avoid both the Malon and the Kazon. The gravity well might be a problem."

"Do it, Mr. Paris. We're out of options at the moment," Janeway said as _Voyager_ continued to shake and conduits exploded around the bridge.

The companion star's gravity well caught the Malon freighter, which began to fall deeper into its corona. Once _Voyager _broke orbit to move closer to the black hole, it began to gradually slip toward the singularity's event horizon, drawn by the intense gravity.

"Captain, we're being pulled in," said Paris. "I need more power to the impulse engines if I'm going to break usloose," said Paris.

"Rerouting all available power including life support to the impulse engines," said Tuvok.

"Try it now, Mr. Paris," said Janeway.

"Helm is responding, but it's going to be a rough ride," said Paris.

"I'll live with it," said Janeway. "Get us out of here as soon as we're free of the gravity well," she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," responded Paris.

_Voyager_ shuddered as it pulled against the black hole's intense gravity. Tom ducked as conduits blew out near him, but he managed to break the ship free and began an escape trajectory. The Malon freighter continued falling into the companion star's corona and finally exploded.

"Brace yourselves! There's a massive shock wave riding our tail," said Kim.

Paris was able to keep the ship just ahead of the shockwave, but temporal eddies began to buffet _Voyager_.

"Temporal waves, Captain," said Seven, as she began entering commands into her console. "I am adjusting the shields to match their phase variance. However, the explosion from the freighter polluted the stellar gases the black hole is drawing in with contaminated antimatter. Should it also pollute the spin energy the Krenim energy matrix is siphoning off, their temporal generator will destabilize. Any temporal modifications to _Voyager's_ shields will be useless," said Seven.

Janeway looked back at her and began, "We'll soon be far enough..."

"Houston, we have a problem," Tom sharply interrupted.

Janeway responded to the urgency in his voice and quickly looked forward to a sight on the viewscreen that chilled her blood -- chaotic space rapidly descending on their position. She stood and walked to the helm, grabbing a nearby railing to steady herself.

"Warp engines offline," said Paris. "I can't outrun it." The shockwave finally caught up to _Voyager_ and passed over them, rocking the ship.

"More bad news, Captain," said Kim. "The Krenim are in here with us."

"All stop," ordered Janeway.

A soft moan behind her caught Janeway's attention. Chakotay was doubled over in his seat, his head in his hands. Janeway crossed the command deck, her concern evident as she leaned over her first officer and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Chakotay?"

"Oh God, Kathryn, not again. I'm already disoriented."

"Try to hang on," Janeway said as she eased him back into an upright position. "You're the only one who can communicate with the aliens who live here. We may need you to do that."

Janeway stepped back and raised her voice to engage the com. "Janeway to the Doctor. We've just entered chaotic space. Commander Chakotay is already been affected."

***

Sickbay:

The Doctor was in his lab analyzing tissue samples when Janeway's voice came over the com. Grabbing a med kit, he replied, "Understood. On my way," as he added a few additional supplies to the kit and left for the bridge.

***

Bridge:

"Captain, the last time we were trapped in chaotic space, the Commander used a paralateral rentrillic trajectory to get us out," Kim said. "I have the necessary subroutines preprogrammed into the computer."

"Mr. Kim?"

"Seven told me that chaotic space was a galaxy-wide, randomly occurring phenomenon," said Kim. "I thought it made sense to be prepared in case we ran into it again."

"Good thinking, Harry," said Janeway. "Do it."

"Tuvok, I need you to take the main deflector off line while I initiate the subroutine to recalibrate it,"Kim said.

"Deflector off line," said Tuvok.

"Computer, take sensors off line and run program Kim RD-47-RS. Signal when you're finished," said Kim.

The computer worked in silence for a few moments and then reported, "Modifications complete."

Kim entered a few commands, turned to Tactical and said, "Tuvok, activate the deflector, full amplitude."

"Deflector activated."

"Bringing sensors back on line," said Kim.

"Tom, set a course out of chaotic space, maximum impulse," Janeway said.

_Voyager_ started to find its way out of the anomalous region when Paris said, "Course headings just vanished. Nice try, Harry."

"All stop," ordered Janeway.

"All stop, aye."

Janeway looked over at Kim, who said, "I don't understand it, Captain. This should have worked."

The Doctor arrived on the Bridge and rushed to Chakotay's side, freeing Janeway to join Kim at his station. She began to go over his calculations while he rechecked the sensors.

"Captain, I'm reading chroniton radiation with traces of contaminated antimatter residue leaking from the Krenim ship. That's what's interfering with our navigation readings."

"Their temporal generator must have begun to destabilize," said Janeway. "We didn't have the radiation and antimatter residue to deal with during our last visit to chaotic space. You were right, Harry. This would have worked without the addition of those two factors."

"Captain, I am detecting temporal and spatial flux unlike the data recorded during _Voyager's_ last sojourn in chaotic space," said Seven. "The Borg have never encountered readings such as these."

"No doubt because the anomaly destroyed them before they could document it," said Tuvok.

"No doubt," said Seven, "although there is a record of one cube having survived an encounter with this phenomenon."

"It would appear that _Voyager_ is in the temporal version of chaotic space, Captain," said Tuvok.

"Noted," said Janeway. She quickly stepped down to the command deck and over to the Doctor's position to discuss Chakotay's condition. "Doctor?"

"He's calm for the moment," said the EMH. "I've given the Commander a mild sedative, but not enough to render him totally unconscious."

Janeway knelt on one knee to Chakotay's left and cupped his jaw with her hand, peering into his face while she waited for a response. Chakotay groggily opened his eyes and looked at her.

"I heard Tuvok, Kathryn. He's right. The aliens are trying to communicate with me again, but it's some kind of weird mixed up chronology. The order doesn't make any sense."

"How are you feeling otherwise, Chakotay?" asked Janeway.

"Like I've been dragged through a warp plasma conduit and back, but believe it or not, it's not as bad as the last time," he answered.

"Wait a while, Commander," said the Doctor.

"Doctor..." Janeway leveled a glare at him to quickly silence that line of conversation. She turned back to Chakotay, lowered her hand to rest on his arm, and said, "Well, that's something at least. I suppose we're fortunate chaotic space activates your defective gene so you can communicate with the aliens who live here.

"Lucky me."

"Can you manage if the Doctor monitors you here on the Bridge instead of taking you to Sickbay?"

"I have to, Kathryn. I'm our ticket out of here," said Chakotay. "The Doctor can resuppress my defective gene once we're safely back in normal space."

"All right, Chakotay. I know you'll do your best for us. Conserve your strength while you can." He nodded and closed his eyes again.

Janeway stood up and walked past the Doctor on her way to her command chair. She stopped abruptly and clutched her head with one hand.

"Captain?" asked Tuvok.

"It's only a bad headache coming on, Tuvok. I've had worse," Janeway replied. She sat down and leaned back, closing her eyes for a few moments.

The Doctor glanced up from monitoring Chakotay, and looked around the bridge at the rest of the crew, who had also begun to show signs of severe headaches and muscle spasms as well. He came over to Janeway, leaned over and said for her ears only, "Just as I suspected, Captain. The spatial distortions associated with temporal chaotic space appear to have symptoms similar to spatial interphase, but on a more intense level. It's just a matter of time before everyone is affected to some degree. The extent of diminished capacity depends on how quickly the Commander can get us out of here."

Chakotay opened his eyes and turned to speak to Janeway. "Kathryn, the aliens are telling me we have to use rentrillic geometry to modify our shields. It will protect us from any temporal anomalies while in chaotic space, and allow Harry's calculations to work."

"Can you enter the modifications?" asked Janeway.

"I think so," said Chakotay. "Give me a moment to focus my thoughts." He closed his eyes again and leaned back in his chair to gather his strength.

The Doctor administered a hypospray to Janeway, and the drawn expression on the Captain's face eased as the intensity of her headache diminished. "That should also minimize any slight vertigo you may be feeling, Captain," the Doctor said. "I can keep everyone comfortable for a short time, but you know as well as I do that the symptoms will continue to progress in severity until we leave this space. I, of course, being a hologram, will remain unaffected."

Janeway shot the Doctor a look that spoke volumes. "Understood, Doctor. I'll help you with the Commander." Janeway stood, preparing to assist the Doctor in getting Chakotay to the tactical station to enter the rentrillic shield modifications, when she moaned quietly, staggered and then sank to her knees. Not wishing to alarm Chakotay, the Doctor encouraged him to rest with his eyes closed for a few moments longer, and then made his way to the Captain.

"Doctor, can you give me something to make the bridge stop spinning? The nausea is almost more than I can manage," said Janeway, as she lowered herself to sit on the deck and closed her eyes.

The Doctor loaded another hypospray and administered it to Janeway. "Help me to my chair, Doctor," she asked as she began get up.

"Actually, it would be better if you laid flat and remained absolutely still to let the medication work. The slightest movement of your head will only aggravate the vertigo."

Rather than heeding that advice, Janeway made a second attempt to rise and was struck with another wave of intense nausea. She groaned heavily and sank back onto the deck, saying, "You win, Doctor." In a quieter voice she said, "I think it's time to activate the Emergency Command Hologram."

"Excuse me, Captain?" The Doctor was startled by the comment and went down on one knee beside her to keep the conversation private between the two of them.

"Think you're up to giving it another try?" asked Janeway, with a slight wry smile.

"You know I'll do my best for you and this crew," said the Doctor.

Janeway said, "Computer, transfer my command codes to the ECH, authorization Janeway Delta-47-gamma-pi."

"Codes transferred," acknowledged the computer.

Janeway watched as four holographic pips appeared on the Doctor's collar. "Doctor, Chakotay is your priority," she said. "I'm counting on you to help him with whatever he needs to do. If he can't enter the shield modifications, our comfort isn't going to matter before very much longer. The graviton shear will crush us."

"Understood, Captain. I won't let you down."

Despite feeling desperately ill, Janeway could see that the Doctor was nervous at the prospect of being in charge. She reached up to take his arm and said, "One more thing..."

"Yes?"

Janeway looked up at him with as much of a smirk as she could muster and said, "Try not to fire off any photonic cannons while the crew's out of commission. All right?"

The Doctor smiled at the memory and said, "Understood. You have my word." He covered Janeway's hand with his own and gave it a squeeze before he lowered it to rest on her midsection. She smiled and closed her eyes.

"Doctor," moaned Chakotay, eyes still closed and leaning slightly forward, clutching his head with one hand and the armrest of his chair with the other. "My head..."

"Sit back, Commander, and keep your eyes closed. I'm giving you 5 cc's of painkiller. That should help," said the Doctor, as he administered the hypospray. Chakotay slumped back in his seat and sighed.

"Commander?" asked the Doctor.

Chakotay sat quietly for a moment, gathering strength and then said, "The head's a little better, and so's the dizziness, Doctor. I wish you could give me something for the mental confusion."

"If it gets too severe, I can sedate you further," said the Doctor, "but there's a limit to how much medication I can give you and still keep you alert enough to get us out of chaotic space. Our survival depends on you."

"Understood, Doctor," said Chakotay. "Give me a few moments more."

"Ready whenever you are, but keep in mind that we really don't have much time."

Chakotay nodded, and remained still, focusing on steadying his breathing to help clear his mind. On a signal from the first officer, the Doctor slung his medkit over his shoulder and helped him struggle to his feet. As they turned and began to walk slowly toward the Tactical station, Chakotay stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Janeway lying on the deck with her eyes closed. "Kathryn!" he cried out in momentary panic, and began to reach down to her.

The Doctor restrained him, saying, "There's no time for that, Commander. I've given the Captain medication for severe nausea and vertigo and advised her to lie still on the deck. She turned over her command codes to me and asked that I assist you in every way possible. The entire bridge crew is incapacitated. "

Chakotay straightened up, swaying slightly. "All right," he said and then nodded to the Doctor that he was ready to start heading for Tactical again. He staggered slowly up the stairs to the secondary engineering level and leaned against the bulkhead next to the turbolift, waiting for the ECH to gently lower Tuvok to the deck from where he was slumped over his console. The Doctor propped the Vulcan into a sitting position against the rear bulkhead and administered a hypospray. Once there was enough room to move around, Chakotay came in to stand behind the station.

"Doctor," he said. "I'm taking the shields offline to make the rentrillic modifications. Once I bring them back online... Chakotay swayed and leaned heavily on the console, clutching his head. "I'm confused..."

The Doctor grasped Chakotay by the arm and said, "Focus on the sound of my voice, Commander. What happens after you bring the shields back on line?"

"You have to run Harry's subroutine on my mark. I'll preset it for you." Chakotay's voice faltered to a halt.

The Doctor opened his medkit and popped an ampoule of mild sedative into a hypospray. He was about to inject Chakotay with it when the Commander held up his hand to stop the ECH.

"Not yet, Doctor. They're communicating with me," he said. "I need to think... what they're saying is in bits and pieces."

Random fragments of events and conversations from _Voyager's_ past history raced through Chakotay's mind almost faster than he could follow the thread of communication as the aliens spoke, saying, _"You must remove the other. Their unstable technology harms our realm. If they remain, all will be destroyed."_

Chakotay swayed again, but steeled himself and forced his mind to concentrate on the task at hand. "They're telling me I have to extend the rentrillic shielding around the Krenim ship and tractor it out with us," said Chakotay. "If there's an antimatter explosion in temporal chaotic space..."

"Let me guess," said the Doctor. "A subspace tear."

"Good guess, Doctor," said Chakotay through gritted teeth. "That, and what Paris called 'time soup', spread across half the quadrant." He entered several commands to take the shields offline and then hesitated.

The Doctor rested a steadying hand on his shoulder and said, "You can do this, Commander."

Chakotay squared his shoulders and finished entering the command sequence. He turned to the Doctor and pointed as he said, "On my mark, here and then here. Then tell the computer to run Kim RD-47-RS."

The Doctor nodded. "Understood."

"I need to lay in our course once the navigation sensors read clear," said Chakotay. Leaning heavily on the railing, he slowly made his way down the stairs and staggered across the command deck. He reached the helm and said, "Now, Doctor."

The Doctor tapped the console in the two places that Chakotay had indicated and said, "Computer, run Kim RD-47-RS, authorization ECH Zimmerman 1-7-4."

The doctor waited until the computer responded with "Program complete" and then made his way to the helm, where Chakotay was leaning heavily on the console as he struggled to remain focused long enough to enter course headings.

"Deflector activated... sensors back on line. Course laid in. Tractor enga...," he managed to get out as he staggered backward a step.

Chakotay's eyes rolled back in his head and his knees started to buckle as the Doctor reached his side just in time to catch him before he collapsed entirely. He slung Chakotay's arm across his shoulders and half-dragged the Commander back to his chair, where he administered inaprovaline to alleviate his symptoms.

Raising his voice, the Doctor said, "Computer, this is the ECH. Engage autopilot and execute course already laid in. Authorization ECH 1-7-4."

"Autopilot engaged. Executing course," the computer responded.

The Doctor watched as the rentrillic shielding took full effect and _Voyager_ slowly made its way out of temporal chaotic space, tractoring the Krenim ship along with them. Once they were clear of the anomaly and at a safe distance, the Doctor ordered, "Computer, disengage autopilot, release the tractor beam, and bring _Voyager_ to all stop."

"Autopilot disengaged. Tractor beam released. Coming to all stop," responded the computer.

The Doctor turned immediately to Janeway, who was already sitting up, holding her head and groaning. He gave her a hypospray to ease her symptoms and said, "Good news, Captain. The Commander was successful. We're back in normal space."

"And still in one piece. Well done, Doctor," Janeway said, as she slowly got to her feet with the ECH's help. The rest of the bridge crew began to stir.

"Thank you, Captain," he said. "Computer, this is the ECH. Transfer all command codes back to Captain Janeway, authorization ECH 1-7-4."

"Transfer complete."

"Ready to give up command so soon, Doctor?" asked Janeway with a smile.

"Not that it hasn't been fun, Captain, but I think the crew needs me in my other capacity as chief medical officer," said the Doctor. "Once I've seen to the rest of the bridge crew, I'd like to take the Commander to sickbay to resuppress his defective gene. Doctor's orders."

"I need him on the Bridge for a while longer. Treat him here. _Captain's_ orders," said Janeway.

Chakotay opened his eyes and said, "I can manage for a little while longer, Doctor, at least until we're safely away from this region. The Krenim temporal generator is unstable. I might be needed on the bridge if we somehow find ourselves back in chaotic space."

Incensed at Chakotay's disregard for his well-being, the Doctor looked over at Janeway, who was glaring at him. "Very well," he said, in an aggrieved tone that was just short of insubordination.

"Tom, we're relatively secure for the moment," said Janeway. "Cover for the Doctor in sickbay until he's finished here. I'll call you back to the helm if I need you."

"Yes, ma'am," Paris replied as he headed for the turbolift.

"If it makes you feel any better, Doctor, the confusion is nearly gone," said Chakotay.

"That's beside the point, but what do I know?" said the Doctor. "I'm just the chief medical officer."

"Gentlemen!" snapped Janeway with a hand to her still pounding head.

The two men fell silent as the Doctor continued to work on Chakotay, who had by this time had leaned back and closed his eyes, giving in to his emotional exhaustion for the moment. The Doctor worked on him a bit longer and then snapped his medical tricorder shut, saying, "That's as much as I can do for you on the bridge, Commander. Please report to Sickbay at the Captain's earliest convenience. I need to run further scans before I can resuppress your defective gene."

"Thank you, Doctor," said Chakotay.

"For everything," added Janeway.

The Doctor acknowledged the command team with a curt nod and said, "You're welcome." He gave Janeway an irritated look and said, "With the Captain's permission, I need to relieve Mr. Paris in Sickbay."

"Dismissed," said the Captain with a wave of her hand. The Doctor quickly left.

"Harry, report," said Janeway.

"As soon as the tractor beam was released, the Krenim ship set a course on a heading back to the binary system." Kim hesitated and then said, "Captain, I've gone over the sensor logs and found evidence of a large chroniton surge just before we were pulled into chaotic space. In all the drama over the Malon freighter and the singularity's gravity well, I managed to overlook it."

"It's understandable, Mr. Kim. We were all pretty busy."

"There is no longer any doubt," said Seven. "The Krenim are developing a temporal weapon."

Before Janeway could respond to her, Tuvok said, "Captain, my tactical logs show a download of 83.4 teraquads of data before we left temporal chaotic space. I cannot account for it."

"I think I can," said Chakotay. "The aliens managed to communicate to me that they considered us ethical and intelligent despite our less advanced evolution. In return for tractoring the Krenim ship out of their space, they shared their rentrillic technology with us. They said they sensed that we would not abuse it, and would use the knowledge only to protect ourselves. It will take some time to get it all figured out, but it should help us avoid spending any time in chaotic space in the future."

"Temporal or otherwise," said Seven.

Paris was back at the helm, having arrived on the bridge during Chakotay's explanation.

Janeway turned to the station behind her command chair and said, "Your next project, Seven." Turning back to face forward, she said, "Speaking of the Krenim ship, Tom, lay in a course away from it, maximum impulse. Once we've cleared this region, set a course for home, warp six. We've gathered much more information than we set out to. Let's end this mission while we're still in one piece," said Janeway.

"You'll get no complaint from me, ma'am," said Paris.

"Captain, I'm reading a massive chroniton buildup, dead ahead" reported Kim. "It has the binary's signature." _Voyager_ began to rumble and shake. "Temporal waves," he reported.

"Nice to know the Krenim appreciated the lift out of temporal chaotic space," said Paris.

"There's a large sinkhole is opening up underneath us," reported Kim.

"Can we avoid it?"

"Too late," said Paris. "We're being pulled in."

"Warp drive?" asked Janeway.

"Off line, impulse only."

"Full impulse, then."

"Still not enough," said Paris. "I need more power if we're going to break the gravitational pull."

"Route power from all non-essential systems to the impulse engines," Janeway ordered. "Bridge to Engineering -- vent three million isodynes of warp plasma from the nacelles. Tuvok, reverse our shield polarity."

_Voyager_ slowly pulled out of the sinkhole.

"Get us out of range, Tom," said Janeway.

"Captain, another chroniton surge building up, dead ahead," said Kim, sounding stressed.

"You know, I've had just about enough of this," said Janeway.

"Captain, I do not believe it is deliberate this time," said Seven of Nine. "My readings indicate that their temporal generator has destabilized beyond their ability to control it."

"You may be right, Seven," said Janeway, "but that device is a menace to _Voyager_ and any other passing ship within range. We're going to disable it completely." She stood and walked to the center of the command deck. "Tom, set a pursuit course." Turning to Ops, Janeway ordered, "Harry, on my mark, send an anyon burst through the main deflector. Once we decloak them, they'll be vulnerable to conventional weapons fire."

Kim entered the necessary commands and said, "Anyon burst ready. Coming into weapons range."

"Mark."

The anyon particle burst surged from the main deflector. As it radiated outward and washed over the cloaked vessel, the Krenim ship slowly phased back into normal space.

"I have them on sensors," said Kim. "They've raised shields."

_Voyager_ rocked as the Krenim opened fire.

"Shields to maximum," ordered Janeway. "Tuvok, I don't care how you do it, but punch through their shields. Target weapons and that damned generator. Our rentrillic modifications should protect us from any temporal effects."

"Forward phaser array locked on Krenim shields," said Tuvok.

"Fire." Multiple orange beams from _Voyager_'s phaser banks crackled and arced across the Krenim vessel's shields, quickly weakening them.

"Maintain fire," ordered Janeway.

"Their shields are collapsing. Locking onto weapons and temporal generator," said Tuvok. A few tense seconds passed. "Weapons disabled, targeting generator."

A moment later, _Voyager_ began to shudder.

"Torres to the Bridge! The core just came back on line. We're going into coaxial warp, Captain. I can't shut it down!"

"Another rift!" said Chakotay. "It must have intersected one of B'Elanna's coaxial drive tests."

"Tuvok, divert all available power including life support to structural integrity." She whipped around to face Ops. "Shipwide, Harry."

Kim opened the channel.

"All hands, this is the Captain. Hang on! We're going for a ride."

_Voyager_ lurched heavily as it leapt into coaxial warp a few seconds before the Krenim temporal generator's systems cascaded into total failure and exploded.


	5. Act 4

Act 4

_CAPTAIN'S LOG, SUPPLEMENTAL/_ _STARDATE 54372.07_

_We have been traveling at impulse speed in what has been a peaceful sector thus far since dropping out of coaxial warp three days ago. That brief, unexpected burst of speed put us 4.7 weeks closer to home but overloaded _Voyager's_ propulsion system, leaving the core needing extensive work before B'Elanna can bring it back on line. Fortunately, Engineering survey teams found ample supplies of gallicite on an uninhabited M-class planet, so I ordered Tom to set us down. The refit has been proceeding on schedule ever since._

_Sensors have detected unusually high levels of psionic radiation permeating this region of space, but Tuvok has expressed minimal concern. He concluded that the phenomenon is characteristic of this sector._

_On a more personal note, I've finally given Neelix an unqualified go-ahead to celebrate Prixin. He's managed to involve nearly the entire crew in his preparations while keeping the overall plan a big secret. I look forward to it with great anticipation._

****

Captain's quarters:

Janeway had nearly finished getting ready for Prixin. She wore a dress she had replicated several hours earlier, a deep garnet-colored floor length one-shouldered gown, slit in the back to allow for movement. A wide, elaborately patterned gold metallic thread border accented the hem, with a matching narrower band at the neckline. Small flowers in the same metallic thread were woven at regular intervals throughout the body of the dress. Janeway selected gold earrings to complement the metallic threads, and gave her hair a final brush in front of the bathroom mirror. She picked up the necklace she'd chosen earlier, the one Caylem had given her five years before, when he had believed she was his daughter. With a sigh, she put it on, thinking of that sweet man, one of the people she wanted to be certain to remember tonight.

Janeway walked into her living area and picked up the book she had left turned face down on the seat of her comfortable armchair. She sat down and quickly became engrossed in the story. A few minutes later, the door chime to her quarters sounded.

"Come," she said, and the doors opened to reveal Chakotay and Tuvok. Janeway looked up from her book to see Tuvok dressed in the long dark blue striped brocade tunic with dress trousers that he reserved for very special occasions, and Chakotay predictably wearing one of his favorite casual vests with a comfortable open-collared shirt and loose trousers. Janeway marked her place, and set the book down on a side table next to the chair. Picking up a shawl that matched her dress, she stepped out into the corridor to join the two of them and they started for the party.

"Kathryn! A vision in command red, as always," said Chakotay. He looked between her and Tuvok. "Uhh... I didn't know tonight was formal dress."

"Actually, it's not," Janeway said, as they walked down the corridor to the turbolift. "Neelix asked me to wear something special for the occasion, so I replicated this. It stole the show at the Admirals' Banquet in 2368 when I attended with Mark."

"I can see why," said Chakotay. "It's lovely."

"Neelix probably didn't say anything to you about formal wear because you always look so uncomfortable in your dress uniform at our diplomatic functions," Janeway said.

"That obvious, Kathryn?"

"Only to those of us who know this is the real Chakotay," Janeway said as she plucked at his sleeve. "You're just fine just the way you are." Chakotay smiled and offered his arm. Tuvok merely raised an eyebrow.

They reached the turbolift, which arrived promptly. They got on and Janeway ordered, "Deck 6." She turned to face the two men, smiled and said, "I haven't seen this much excitement over Prixin in years."

"Pre-existing morale problems aside, we really needed something like this after all the drama with the Krenim," Chakotay said. "I heard our favorite Talaxian say something about a crewful of eager workers. It seems just about everyone had something to contribute, whether it was time, ideas, or labor."

"It was fortunate that _Voyager_ encountered this planet," said Tuvok. "I understand Mr. Neelix supervised three away teams that gathered sufficient fresh food from the planet's surface for tonight's meal and our future needs. According to him, there will be enough supply for several weeks to come."

"And to think I was actually looking forward to a steady diet of pleeka rind casserole," said Chakotay with a laugh, as they arrived at their destination and exited the lift.

"That would make one of us," said Janeway. "Tuvok?"

"The count remains at one."

When they reached holodeck 2, Janeway raised her hand to input her codes, but Chakotay said, "Allow me," and entered his instead.

The doors opened to reveal a lush nighttime forest. As they entered, the computer voice intoned, "Once upon a time, in the Forest of Forever..."

As their eyes adjusted to the low ambient light level, the three were able to make out the figure of Naomi Wildman, dressed in a command Starfleet uniform and standing in a pool of moonlight several meters away. She was talking animatedly with Flotter and Trevis, whom Neelix had recruited to help her guide the Captain's party to the site where the evening's celebration was being held.

"What's this, Commander?" Janeway asked, with barely concealed mirth.

"It would appear we have an honor guard to accompany us," he replied.

At the sound of the Captain's voice, Naomi snapped to attention. Flotter and Trevis attempted to emulate her posture, with mixed success.

"At ease, crewman," said Janeway, "...and honor guards."

Naomi Wildman acknowledged her with a nod and tapped her combadge. "Captain's assistant Wildman to Neelix. Captain Janeway and her bridge officers have entered the Great Forest."

"You know what to do, Naomi," Neelix replied. "We'll see all of you in a few minutes."

"The Great Forest?" asked Janeway.

Naomi started to explain, saying, "Neelix wanted to have Prixin in the Great Forest this year."

Flotter picked up the thread of the explanation and enthusiastically babbled on as he capered about. "It's really the Forest of Forever, Katie. Neelix told us it reminded him of the forest near his home on Rinax where he used to pretend he was Prince Morax. He explained all about the Great Forest and we said he could use our home for his party, and we even let him make a few changes."

"Nobody really knows what the Great Forest looks like, anyway," said Trevis. "Since we already live here, Neelix said we could come as Naomi's guests."

"Of course," said Janeway, with a slightly bemused nod of her head.

Movement above everyone's heads drew their attention. Numerous floating globes of light descended from where they had been grouped together over the tree tops, creating the illusion of the pool of moonlight in which Janeway had seen Naomi standing. Half a dozen globes hovered over the group, while the rest moved lower down among the trees to light their path. Three globes floated over a particular opening in the trees.

Naomi turned to Janeway, saying, "Neelix said they're moonbeams. We're supposed to follow them."

Naomi, Flotter and Trevis started down a grassy path through a night garden planted among the trees, with Janeway's party following closely behind. As they walked, many of the flowering plants luminesced, with several also giving off musical sounds and sweet fragrances when the floating globes hovered briefly over them.

Janeway stepped away from the group momentarily and over to a flowering vine. She inhaled deeply and said, "Ummm... it smells like Indiana honeysuckle back on Earth." She rejoined them and said, "Naomi, I don't remember any plants like these in the Forest of Forever."

Flotter bounded over to Janeway. "That's because Neelix put the Moonlight Gardens of Rinax into our forest, Katie. That was his sister Alixia's favorite place. He wanted to add it because he said he always wished Kes could have seen all the different plants."

"I'm not surprised, Flotter," said Janeway. "I've never seen a garden quite like this on any world I've visited, and I know Kes would have loved it, too."

Tuvok said, "Crewman Wildman, I do not believe I have met the members of our escort detail."

Naomi said, "Lieutenant Tuvok, this is Flotter T. Water and his friend Trevis. Didn't you ever play the 'The Adventures of Flotter' holostories when you were little?"

Tuvok harrumphed and said, "Vulcan children play dak'lir. It is a structured game which quiets the mind to prepare it for logic."

Trevis turned to Naomi and asked, "Logic?! Is he always that serious?"

"Oh yes, Trevis. He's a Vulcan, and they're always very serious," she responded.

Flotter asked nervously, "Does he even like children, Naomi?"

"I think so," she answered. "He has three boys and a girl back home on his planet."

"Allow me to explain, Crewman," Tuvok said, addressing Naomi. He turned to the two holodeck characters. "When Vulcan parents allow their children to use holodecks, they strongly prefer programs that instruct their offspring in aspects of Vulcan cultural history. Our young find it a most rewarding experience."

Flotter and Trevis just looked at one another and discreetly rolled their eyes.

Janeway turned to Tuvok and said, "I remember the time I spent with Flotter and Trevis as one of the happiest parts of my childhood, Tuvok."

"We remember you too, Katie," said Flotter. "Who could forget the Great Flood of '37?" said Trevis.

"Great Flood?" asked Naomi.

Janeway laughed and said, "I'm surprised Neelix didn't tell you the story, Naomi. He thought it was very funny when I told it to him."

"We're listening... Katie," said Chakotay.

"With anticipation," said Tuvok.

Janeway smirked at the Vulcan and began, "I was just a little bit older than Naomi..."

Trevis said, "Flotter told Katie that a dry spell was on the way..."

"And I had the perfect solution—I diverted the river," Janeway continued.

"And we found ourselves in the Swamp of Forever," Flotter finished.

"Not exactly following the Prime Directive, were you?" asked Chakotay, with a laugh.

"No," answered Janeway. "I was a little too young to fully understand something like the Prime Directive, but I did learn a very important early lesson in humility."

"Not to mention hydroengineering," said Tuvok.

They all laughed and continued to follow the "moonbeams" down the grassy path further into the deep forest, where dense growth obscured a clearing up ahead in the distance. Glimmers of light seeped through the thicket, but without illuminating the forest at large. When the group pushed through the last of the dense growth and stepped into the clearing chosen for the celebration, it was as though someone had thrown a switch -- they entered a forest room full of dappled sunlight. The globes of moonlight hovered for a moment and then morphed into yute birds, which began to sing as they flew into the open space. The unexpected change brought delighted smiles to Janeway and Chakotay's faces.

An enormous moss and vine-draped tree stood in the center of the clearing. A small altar set with flowers and lit Ocampan prayer tapers had been set up underneath its branches, indicating the place where people would gather later for the formal opening ceremony that began Prixin.

A large gazebo containing tables of food and drink within stood at some distance from the tree, and much of the crew had already gathered there. Numerous large round tables with chairs surrounded the gazebo, with many curved benches scattered randomly throughout the large clearing.

Paris, Torres, Kim, Seven, and Neelix stood together in a group, chatting with each other and various passing crewmembers. Neelix held a small tray containing three small bowls of fruit compote as he waited for the Captain's party to arrive. Paris conversed mostly with Torres, Kim, and Seven, leaving Neelix free to keep an eye on the overall proceedings while he waited.

Janeway's approach caught Paris's attention first. He indicated her direction with a nod of his head and said, "Neelix, it looks like everyone's finally here."

Neelix thanked Paris and excused himself to bustle across the short distance to meet Janeway's party. "Thank you, Naomi," he said. "You can spend some time with Flotter and Trevis, but don't go far. We'll be starting soon."

Naomi Wildman looked up at the Captain with an inquiring look. Janeway smiled and said, "Captain's Assistant Wildman, you and your team are dismissed, with our thanks."

"Aye, Captain," Naomi replied as she bobbed her head. She turned to Flotter and Trevis and said, "Maybe Seven and Icheb would like to play kadis-kot," as the three of them dashed off. Janeway looked over at Chakotay with a smile.

Her attention was brought back to Neelix when he cleared his throat and said, "Welcome, honored guests. Fruit compote fermented in moolt nectar, for the first night of Prixin." He offered the tray with a small bow. He pointed out a specific bowl to Janeway, and said, "Captain's Special Recipe, fermented just the way you like it. I went easy on the moolt nectar."

"Can't hold your moolt nectar, Kathryn?" teased Chakotay.

"Not unless you want to be this evening's designated captain," responded Janeway with a wry smile. She and Tuvok each took a bowl of compote, while Chakotay declined until later.

Tuvok turned to Neelix saying, "Mr. Neelix, I commend you on the distinctiveness of this evening's setting."

"Thank you, Mr. Vulcan," Neelix said. "I had a lot of very eager hands from the crew, plus some special help from Seven," as he motioned for Paris, Torres, Kim, and Seven of Nine to join them. Chakotay unobtrusively excused himself as Neelix was giving Paris and Kim major credit for the holoprogram. His highest praise went to Seven of Nine, who had written the subroutine that morphed the "moonbeams" into yute birds.

"Well done, Tom and Harry... and Seven. I'm glad those birds were a subroutine," Janeway said. "I was about to ask if we had shapeshifters aboard_ Voyager_." The comment elicited chuckles, and the group continued to converse among themselves.

Meanwhile, Chakotay had walked over to look more closely at the prayer tapers and the hanging moss and vines on the tree. Neelix excused himself and hurried over to join Chakotay where he stood, moss in hand, gazing up into the branches.

"Yes, Mr. Chakotay, before you even ask – it's the Guiding Tree."

"And we're in the Great Forest, with Ocampan prayer tapers. Regained your faith in an afterlife, Neelix?"

"I can't say for sure," said Neelix. "All I really know is that I can't live with the thought of never seeing my loved ones again."

"The entire crew would understand that, Neelix," said Chakotay. "We've come here by different roads, but all any of us want is to find our way back to those we care deeply about, wherever they may be. That hope holds _Voyager_ together when it seems nothing else will."

"That's what I wanted for Prixin this year, Mr. Chakotay -- hope," said Neelix, "both for myself and for the crew. I want to believe that everyone I've ever loved will meet me at the Guiding Tree when I die. I never had any more chance to say goodbye to them than _Voyager's_ crew did with their loved ones when the Caretaker brought everyone here."

"Neelix, it's a blessing to the dead to keep them alive in your memory by acknowledging their absence," said Chakotay.

"I just wish it wasn't so painful," Neelix replied. "Every night before I go to sleep, I talk to my family about my day as though they're still alive, but it hurts terribly, even after all these years."

"I lost my family suddenly, too, Neelix. A power-hungry race called the Cardassians murdered them, and nearly all of my tribe," said Chakotay. "I joined the Maquis to protect what was left of my people and others like them, and the Maquis became my family. Now that most of them are gone too, all I really have left is my own set of indelible memories that will always be with me. I believe that our loved ones should never be forgotten, no matter how painful -- otherwise those people died in vain."

"I can do that now," Neelix said, "but if I had taken the time to remember my family and how they died in the Metreon Cascade when it happened, I wouldn't have survived. Not after what I saw when I went back to Rinax once the War was over to look for them. Clouds of ashes, charred flesh, the living dead with their ruined faces and bodies -- that's all there was left to remember. At least _Voyager's_ crew was spared that."

"Yes, at least there's that," said Chakotay. "No one on _Voyager_ has ever lived through anything even remotely like the Cascade. The closest thing to it that I know of happened over four centuries ago in Earth history -- an event called Hiroshima. One side in a war used a powerful superweapon twice to quickly end a war. Those two blasts snuffed out countless lives in the blink of an eye, but hundreds continued to die from radiation poisoning for a very long time afterward. The aftereffects for both survivors and rescue workers lasted a lifetime."

"You know, Mr. Chakotay, I still have nightmares about the Haakonian War, and it's been nearly 20 years," said Neelix. "My rescue mission was one of the very first on Rinax after the surrender. I looked for my family... my friends... everyone gone. Nothing left but ruins. There were only 37 survivors out of a colony of 300,000. I saw their charred flesh... their cracked and swollen faces... They looked more like monsters than anyone you would ever recognize. I smelled that aroma of roasted meat in my dreams for years. We all hoped that a few would live somehow, but the doctors couldn't help them. The only way I got through those days was the Rhuludian crystals I started using when I was on that team. I became a drug addict, Mr. Chakotay -- I couldn't help myself, not after what I saw."

"People have done worse things after war, Neelix, but you survived and got over the addiction," said Chakotay.

"My friend Wixiban saved me," replied Neelix simply.

"I remember him," said Chakotay.

"After he got me off the crystals, we worked day and night to build our salvage business. He didn't leave me with any time to think. It was the first peace I'd known since the Cascade, until Wix was thrown into prison. Six months later, I found myself in Kazon-Olga territory, where I first saw Kes. Then I met all of you and it changed my life," said Neelix. "I found a new family."

"Yes, you did, just as I found a new family in the Maquis, and then again here on _Voyager. _Many of us did," said Chakotay. "Your place is with us now, Neelix. And as far as your faith in an afterlife is concerned, belief in something you feel is true and right, even in the absence of proof, is faith. This Guiding Tree tells me you've taken a big step toward finding your truth."

"Then I guess then we're not that different from each other, Commander," said Neelix. "Maybe the future is the only place for people like us."

"Everyone hopes for a happy reunion someday with those they love," said Chakotay warmly.

Neelix paused to reflect on that thought for a few moments and then said, "Well... I think we'd better be getting started. If you'll excuse me..." He waded into the crowd, urging them toward the Guiding Tree, saying, "Attention, everyone. We're about to start. Can we all come over this way?"

Seven noticed Neelix struggling to be heard over the din of conversation. She called out, "Mr. Neelix," to get his attention as she turned to one in her group and commandeered a spoon. Taking a glass of champagne from a passing holographic waiter, Seven began tapping it with the spoon as she walked toward the altar under the Guiding Tree. The sharp pings caught the crew's attention, and they began drifting over to join her and Neelix, who by this time had bustled over behind Seven.

When all eyes were finally on her, Seven nodded to Neelix. She stepped away from him to join Janeway, Chakotay, the Doctor, and Kim, who stood in a small group to Neelix's right.

"Thank you, Seven," Neelix said, as he stepped forward to address the crew. "Welcome to the Feast of the First Night of Prixin, honored guests. As you know, this year we're including Kes as we look back on our journey together, so I've made a few changes to the traditions you've come to expect. Three of your shipmates who were especially close to Kes have a few words for you before the traditional salutation," he said, indicating Janeway, Tuvok, and the Doctor. He turned to Janeway and said, "Captain, if you will get us started?"

Janeway stepped forward. "Remembering the Kes we knew reminds us of who we were when we started our journey home. Being out here has changed us all. Every one of us has done things we are proud of, and things we regret. At times, the strain of lasting another day has been nearly unbearable, but throughout everything, we've survived and become a family.

"You have shown me extraordinary loyalty and trust, but what I will treasure to the end of my days is the friendship and community we've shared together."

She raised her glass of champagne. "To our absent friend, Kes, who made so much of our community possible with her gentle spirit and kind soul." The assembled crew murmured, "To Kes," as they raised their glasses.

Janeway turned to Neelix and rested her hand on his arm. "I know I speak for the entire crew when I say we are in your special debt for having brought Kes to us," she said. "Our lives were greatly enriched by the three years she spent on _Voyager_...," and turning back to face the crew, Janeway raised her glass and said, "...and we still have Neelix."

"Hear, hear," shouted Tom and raised his glass in salute as the crew chuckled and applauded.

Neelix beamed and said, "Thank you. I wish every race in the Delta Quadrant gave you and _Voyager_ as warm a welcome as all of you gave Kes and me." He took a moment to wipe a tear from his eye before he said, "Mr. Tuvok?"

Tuvok stepped forward. "I ask you first to consider the effect our journey has had on this quadrant. _Voyager_ has gone from being known as a 'ship of death' to 'shining Voyager, far from home.' This ship and crew have gone so far as to influence centuries of an entire planet's development by our mere presence in their sky. A considerable achievement, of which you all may be proud.

"With regard to Kes, she was a most dedicated and open-minded student in her pursuit of developing her innate mental capabilities to their fullest potential. I consider it one of the great privileges of my life to have seen the beginning of her final transformation into an entirely new being. It opened up an enormous realm of possibility for her."

With dispassionate Vulcan logic, Tuvok pointed out, "As you know, Kes was one year old when she joined us, and spent a third of her 9-year life span here on _Voyager_. She would be approaching the end of her life were she still with us. It is my sincerest hope that with whatever she has become, this limitation above all others has been transcended."

"Well said, Mr. Tuvok, and a hope we all share," said a moved Neelix. "Doctor?"

Torres turned to Paris and started, "Good luck on getting just a few words from..."

"B'Elanna..." Chakotay warned quietly, and silenced her with a look.

Torres ducked her head and said, "Sorry," in an equally quiet voice.

The Doctor acknowledged the apology with a nod and motioned for Seven to join him as he stepped forward, holding a book and a padd in his right hand. He opened the leather-bound volume to a marked passage and handed it to her, saying, "Seven joined our _Voyager_ family as Kes was leaving us. I have asked her to assist me by reading one of my favorite passages from _La Vita Nuova_ – 'The New Life.'"

Seven looked at the assembled crew, saying "Although I only knew this individual very briefly, these words hold personal relevance for me as well." She recited the text in her usual straightforward manner, saying, "In that book which is my memory, on the first page of the chapter that is the day when I first met you, appear the words, 'Here begins a new life'." Closing the book, she inclined her head, handed it back to the Doctor, and rejoined the small group.

"Thank you, Seven," said the Doctor. "We met Kes on the fourth day of _Voyager's_ 'new life' in the Delta Quadrant. It was a time of new beginnings for all of us, myself included. At first, I was mere photons and forcefields, defined by my program."

Janeway and Chakotay looked at one another with quiet dismay, as did many in the crew, expecting the Doctor to launch into one of his endless pedantic lectures. They were surprised when his manner softened as he continued.

"All that started to change the day I first met Kes. She urged me to choose a name. I didn't even know I was capable of choice beyond my parameters. I told her that I didn't even think of myself as having a life. Kes wouldn't leave things at that. She told Captain Janeway that I had the same right as any crew member to have my integrity protected.

"Kes encouraged me to look beyond my limits. She fought for my right to be treated with respect. My 'new life' began the day Captain Janeway walked into sickbay and told me I must consider myself a valued member of her crew." The Doctor stopped speaking, turned to Janeway, and handed her a padd.

"What's this, Doctor?" she asked.

"A statement to be entered into the ship's permanent record should you grant a personal request I am about to make," he replied. The Doctor turned back to address the crew, saying, "Tonight's occasion has given me the impetus to finally decide on a name, one that honors my creator, Dr. Lewis Zimmerman, and Kes, my first and my dearest friend."

He paused self-consciously for a moment and then said, "I wish henceforth to be known as Dr. Lewis Kesselman."

Janeway began to scroll through the document on the padd, and looked up only when she heard a loud guffaw from Tom Paris.

"Lewis_ Kesselman?"_ Paris blurted out, with an edge of sarcasm in his voice. "No offense, Doc, but..."

The Doctor put up his hand to stop any further comment as he retorted, "Yes, Mr. Paris – Lewis Kesselman. I knew there would be some people on this ship who would find it incredibly hokey, but I truly expected better of you. As I recall, I'm not the only one in this room who's benefited from someone's advocacy. Perhaps you'd rather still be in New Zealand..."

Torres bristled and shouted a belligerent "Hey!"

"It's okay, B'Elanna," said Paris. "He's right." Paris turned to face the crew. "Everyone on this ship knows my story. The Captain needed a pilot that knew the Badlands, and she requested me. If she hadn't sprung me from Starfleet Rehab, I probably would've finished up my sentence and drunk myself to death in the real Sandrine's by now." He pulled Torres to him. "I never would have had a chance at a real life... and a family."

He turned to face the Doctor. "I'm sorry, Doc. The Captain is right -- we've all changed. You're not the same hologram Harry activated that first day we were stranded here. I can't even imagine what it must have been like for you."

"Tell me about it," said the Doctor. "At first, everyone treated me like a walking tricorder. They'd walk out of Sickbay and leave my program running without a second thought, and then complain about my attitude. My adaptive programming allowed me to develop sentience, and you can imagine what _that_ felt like when people continued to treat me like I was a piece of equipment without feelings that could be hurt. Even Seven would say that survival as a mere program is insufficient. Things finally began to improve once the Captain arranged it so I could turn myself on or off.

"The day this crew stepped in and supported me as I struggled with my emotions during my last program conflict instead taking the easy way out and reprogramming me meant more to me than I can ever say. All I have ever wanted since the day Kes encouraged me to go beyond my programming is to expand my abilities to serve the people I have come to love."

"All that's behind you now, Doc," said Paris. "You're one of us now."

"True enough, Mr. Paris, but you also have to understand that my 'new life' as I know it ends the day _Voyager_ reaches home," said the Doctor. "I'm extinct, so to speak – the EMH Mark 4 is the Starfleet standard now. Who knows what it will be by the time we get back?"

"C'mon, Doc," said Paris. "No one's going to decompile you."

"They wouldn't dare. After all, I _am Voyager's_ EMH. I'm certain I'll be quite the celebrity at first, and then segue into some form of the life I was designed for – a reference hologram, perhaps. Something to be taken down from the photonic shelf and dusted off when some historian wants a first-hand account of _Voyager's_ travels."

Paris struggled not to roll his eyes at the Doctor's self-assessment of his role once Voyager finally returned home, but caught the genuine pathos of the EMH's deep-seated fears at what he perceived to be his ultimate fate.

"Listen, Doc," Paris said, "we've all imagined what will happen when we reach Earth, but the truth is that none of us knows what's on the other side of tomorrow. "Your 'new life' might have a sequel."

"One can only hope, Mr. Paris, but I can tell you this: whatever comes after _Voyager_ reaches home will never have the richness of these years I've spent with all of you," said the Doctor. He paused for a moment, and his eyes became very distant as he continued. "When _Voyager's_ story is told a hundred years from now, I want to stand as a living memorial to this remarkable crew. There have been so many diplomatic and scientific accomplishments, but beyond that, you've done the unheard of – accepted a Borg drone and a hologram as equal colleagues... and as your friends."

He turned to Janeway and said, "Kes sent us on the greatest voyage of discovery of all, Captain. She gave us the ability to see with new eyes."

Janeway walked over to stand in front of the Doctor. She looked into his eyes as everyone waited, holding their collective breath. "Permission granted," she said with a warm smile. The crew burst into spontaneous applause and cheering.

The newly-minted Doctor Kesselman was nearly beside himself with joy. It was a few moments before he could say, "Thank you, Captain. I expect Mr. Paris and Mr. Kim will continue to call me 'Doc'." The crew chuckled in response.

"Speaking of Mr. Kim," said the Doctor, glancing over at the small group, "don't you have something for us?"

Kim walked over to stand near Neelix and Doctor Kesselman, waiting a moment until the crew settled down.

The Doctor continued, "When Mr. Kim mentioned to me that he was looking through the musical database for something appropriate for tonight, I suggested a piece I'd found in _Voyager's_ anthropological database."

Kim stepped forward, holding a small musical instrument he had retrieved from the back of the altar under the Guiding Tree while Paris and the Doctor had been talking.

"My solo is a remnant of a civilization that vanished a thousand years ago when its sun went nova," he said. "The Ressican people launched a probe into space with the hope of preserving their history. Centuries later, it found a Starfleet captain, and transmitted the memories of an entire lifetime lived on a dying planet."

Kim's voice grew impassioned. "No one understands the power of memory better than this crew. We all relived the Nakan massacre on Tarakis. Do you remember the inscription on the memorial beacon? 'Beyond words lies experience. Beyond experience lies truth.'"

He paused for a moment to allow that thought to sink in. "By the time deep space expeditions retrace our journey back to its beginning, the only record of the places we've been will be the dry statistics in _Voyager's_ database. No one will know what the friends we made and left behind were really like unless we tell them.

"Tonight we honor our journey, and most especially, Kes. Don't keep those precious memories locked up inside. Open your hearts and share them with the rest of us."

Kim paused to focus his concentration before beginning his solo. "Kamin's Lullaby," he said quietly, and put the flute to his lips. His eyes met those of Dr. Kesselman.

"Computer, begin orchestral playback," said the Doctor.

The haunting, evocative melody began to spin out. Peoples' eyes grew very distant as the memories flooded back:

_...An aged Ocampan face and a beloved voice asking "See anyone you know?" fading into a memory of two-year-old Kes blowing out the candles on her Jibelian fudge cake... _

_...unexpected stolen moments with Libby in San Francisco... a lost love returned as Kobali, determined to "seize the day"... sitting on the grass on a sunny afternoon with Mark and Molly while Phoebe took a picture... encountering T'Pel in Voyager's corridor, dream state though it was... _

_...Alixia in the forest behind the house on Rinax... Tal in a shuttle, watching the stars... waiting with Amelia Earhart to learn how many would leave, only to find an empty cargo bay at the moment of truth... One's face as he came to awareness... the shock of seeing Riley's Borg implants and realizing what they meant... being everywhere and everything at once, and three lizard offspring..._

_...the Barge of the Dead, Grethor, and Miral... that unexpected and genial Kobyashi Maru named Tuvix... _

_...telling Palaxia's story to Jetrel, and seeing the tears of a self-acknowledged monster... forgiveness... dragging B'Elanna into the holodeck only to find Li-Paz, Meyer, Nelson, and Sahreen slaughtered at the massacre on Tevlik's moon... sitting among the dead after Chakotay was called away to the bridge... fighting desperately to save Kurt Bendera's life... the abyss gazing back..._

_...watching helplessly as Harry was sucked out into the vacuum of space through a hull breach... seeing Kes run down a corridor with a medkit only to disappear... duplicate Harry and Naomi appearing in a battered corridor... another Voyager and another captain and crew, sacrificed to save their counterparts from the Vidiians... playing an Enaran instrument with telepathic assistance... _

_...a single tear shed over a tender moment shared on a stormy planet... "No, but that made it easier to say..." _

_...an unconscious captain carried from a crashed shuttle... weeping when she couldn't be revived... having to watch one's own memorial service... holding a warm hand on the bridge before leaving to infiltrate the Borg..._

_... dancing a jig in Sullivan's as Katie O'Clare... that infamous hair pasta food fight in the mess hall, fueled by jealousy... "you are my sunshine, my only sunshine"... struggling to get Kes to the transporter room as conduits exploded all around... the Flyer in a high speed chase through a Borg debris field... altering the slipstream trajectory after Seven and the Captain's rescue..._

_...attempting to tractor the Mars orbiter out of the graviton ellipse... hearing John Kelly's logs... "The Yankees, in six games"... Gotana Retz singing his peoples' Sky Ship lullaby in the ready room... three years in the Central Protectorate and a son... dinner with a holofamily... two ships rising up to lift Voyager from orbit... "shining Voyager, far from home"... launching DaVinci's glider and soaring off a cliff..._

_...promising to protect three children from the Morag... a heartfelt apology upon realizing that the Drayans aged in reverse... entering the cave with Tressa to comfort her in her final moments... enduring the Nechani ritual to save Kes's life when the only challenge was faith over science... Tieran the warlord..._

_...parked in a '57 Chevy on Mars, enjoying the view of Utopia Planetia... a slow dance in Sandrines after Denara's consciousness was returned to her phage-ridden body... Mr. Tash and his catapult... amazement at Kes' growing powers, uncontrollable though they were... setting a mediation lamp on the sill of a viewport..._

_...a shuttlecraft disappearing in a swelling flash of transformative light and the words, "my gift to you..."_

The final notes of Kim's solo died away into deep silence. After a few moments for quiet reflection, Neelix stepped forward to begin the traditional salutation.

"We do not stand alone. We are in the arms of family. Father, mother, sister, brother, father's father, father's mother, mother's brother, fa..."

A Vulcan throat being loudly cleared interrupted Neelix's recitation.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Vulcan," said Neelix. "We've come to the traditional interruption. As you point out every year, the list is very long."

"Indeed," Tuvok said, to an undercurrent of amused titters from the assembled crew.

"Well, going on... We gather on this day to extol the warmth and joy..."

Another voice rang out and joined in, saying, "...the warmth and joy of those unshakeable bonds." Recognizing the voice, Neelix was startled into speechlessness.

The speaker picked up the thread of the salutation. "Without them we could not call ourselves complete," she said as she slowly worked her way forward through the gathering while continuing to recite the traditional words.

"Alixia?" Neelix finally asked in wonder, disbelieving his eyes and ears.

Alixia emerged from the crew to stand before her brother as she said, "On this day, we are thankful to be together."

Before Alixia's presence had fully registered with everyone, a glowing cloud of light appeared next to her. "We are not alone," resounded though the clearing as the youthful speaker emerged from the light.

There was a moment of stunned silence as astonishment gave way to joy, and the crew surged forward to surround the two unexpected visitors.

"Kes," said Tuvok simply.


	6. Act 5

ACT 5

Kes sat at one of the large round tables near the Guiding Tree, surrounded by the senior staff and many of the crew. Neelix handed her a glass, saying, "Moon-ripened champagne, Kessie -- your favorite," and he then joined Alixia, who stood nearby.

Kes began by saying, "I'm sure many of you remember the time I had chroniton poisoning. I guess that's when it all started. It opened up my mind to a point that when Species 8472 reached out to me, my consciousness responded by opening up further and switching on a dormant Ocampan gene from my mother's line of the family. That made telepathic communication with other species possible and at the same time, it began my transformation."

"Did you get all the way home the last time you left here?" asked Kim.

"Not quite, Harry," said Kes. "I got as far as the Northwest Passage when my ship was pulled into a temporal rift. I woke up on the deck, looking as you see me now. Someone calling himself 'The Traveler' was leaning over me."

"Really!" said Kim. "There was a cadet in my class who left the Academy about six weeks before graduation to go with the Traveler."

"Small galaxy, Mr. Kim," said Tuvok. "Please enlighten us."

"I was editor of the Academy newspaper that year," said Kim. "Wesley wrote a small announcement to say goodbye – you know, thanking his teachers and wishing all of us future success, that sort of thing. The circumstances surrounding his departure were so unusual that I felt it deserved mention in the paper, so we ran it under 'Special Assignments.' I've not given it much thought since."

"Did your classmate tell you anything about the Traveler?" asked Kes.

Kim shook his head and said, "No, not much beyond the fact that he was a highly advanced alien."

"He's a transdimensional being, Harry. He can go anywhere in the universe with just a thought," explained Kes. "His race exists largely beneath the sub-atomic level in a transwarp layer of subspace, and that's where I ended up after he rescued me from the temporal rift."

"Interesting," said Tuvok.

She turned to Doctor Kesselman. "Doctor, you'd be interested to know... the transwarp layer I now call home is filled with metaphasic energy. I'll probably live for centuries."

"That's wonderful, Kes," said the Doctor. "And what of your people? How are they?"

"They're managing, Doctor," answered Kes. "About three years ago, the Preservers took responsibility for their survival. I'll assist them once my abilities are fully developed."

"How so, Kes?" asked Janeway.

"I'll become what my people refer to in their ancient stories as an "Enlightened Elder."

"Explain," said Tuvok.

"Originally, our telepathic powers were so advanced that they accelerated our lifespan so that we only lived for nine years at the most by your calendar. The Ocampa people are governed by a large body of Elders, and our comparatively short lifespan has never been an issue because it meant that no Ocampa Elder would be able to build a power base of any significant influence. We've always felt that's especially important in case an Elder is corrupt – he or she can't do our civilization any lasting harm. In ancient times, only those Elders who were completely selfless by nature were able to ascend as I did and become an Enlightened Elder. They were responsible for the long-term oversight of the Ocampa and other surrounding civilizations. The Enlightened Elders existed in a state of temporal flux which made them virtually immortal."

"And you're in the same state of temporal flux," said the Doctor. "That's why you'll live for centuries."

"Exactly, Doctor -- or should I be calling you Doctor Kesselman now?" asked Kes with a delighted smile.

The Doctor looked very bashful for the first time in anyone's memory and said, "Whichever you like, Kes. After all, you are my best friend."

Paris came to the Doctor's rescue from his unexpected bout of shyness and brought the conversation back around to the original topic, saying, "It sounds like the Caretaker did more damage to Ocampa than just the planet's atmosphere."

"Yes, Tom," said Kes, "he did. Since the Nacene came from another galaxy, they were unfamiliar with any of the entities that provided guidance here, such the Enlightened Elders. The Nacene provided technological guidance and assistance that unfortunately interfered with our development. They had good intentions, but they never bothered to find out if their technology was compatible with our galaxy and whether or not it would harm Ocampa in any way. They just assumed they knew best, and their arrogance resulted in the ecological disaster on the surface, and the Ocampas' dependency on the Caretaker."

"The 'debt that cannot be repaid'," said Janeway.

"Yes, Captain," said Kes. "Once conditions on the surface drove my people underground, we gradually lost our special abilities, and that weakened the regional power structure enough to disrupt the equilibrium in this part of the quadrant. Our telepathic abilities had kept an entire undercurrent of negativity in check. Once the stabilizing power of the Enlightened Elders was gone, all the hostility and other negative emotions resurfaced and flourished, and began to spread throughout the region and beyond. The Kazon were only one of many races that eventually came to prey on our planet for its cormaline ore.

"Pandora's Box," said Chakotay.

"Commander?" asked Kes.

"An ancient Earth legend, Kes," said Chakotay. "All of the world's evils and ills were contained inside a container that was never supposed to be opened. A woman named Pandora became curious and looked inside despite the warning, and all of humanity's ills emerged and spread throughout the world."

"And you're saying that the Caretaker opened a kind of Pandora's Box," said Kes.

"Yes, in a sense. What happened to the Ocampa is one of the best arguments in favor of a guiding principle like the Prime Directive," said Chakotay. "You never know what result your interference will have, and once the damage is done, it's too late to undo it, if it even can be undone at all.

"Which is why the Travelers never interfere in anyone's development," said Kes.

"What exactly does the Traveler do, Kes? asked Kim, bringing the subject back to Kes's savior. "Wesley's notice was a little short on exact details."

Tuvok interjected, "There are no records of the Traveler in the Federation database other than several log entries from the USS Enterprise-D, and now, Mr. Kim's anecdotal comments."

Kes turned to address Tuvok. "His race is able to manipulate a complicated relationship among space, time, and thought by focusing the thought energies of himself and others like a lens. In my case, he sensed the beginning of my transformation and gave it the final impetus by focusing my dormant telekinetic trait. That's what gave me the ability to push _Voyager_ beyond Borg space. It balanced out the instability created when I suddenly left your dimension."

Kim began, "Kes is there any way..."

"I'm sorry, Harry. I know what you're asking, but I can't send _Voyager _home. I'm not allowed to interfere."

"But we weren't supposed to be here for another hundred years," said Kim. "Q told us."

"Yes, said Kes, "but now that you _are_ here, _Voyager's_ absence would alter the existing timeline and set this quadrant's evolution back by hundreds of years."

"A Prime Directive of some kind?" asked Tuvok.

"In a sense, Tuvok." answered Kes. "Above all else, the Traveler cautioned me that we must allow others to work out their future for themselves. They can only intervene when an imbalance is a grave threat to dimensional stability."

"I see," said Tuvok.

She turned back to Kim. "Harry, I know you're disappointed, but trust me when I say you'll get home. I'm absolutely sure of it."

"I hope you're right," said Kim.

Changing the subject, Paris asked, "Kes, how did you know where to find us?"

"_Voyager_'s coaxial drive," Kes replied. "This region of the Delta Quadrant is a dimensional link to the coaxial and transwarp layers of subspace. It would have shown up on your sensors as elevated levels of psionic radiation."

"It did indeed," said Tuvok. "The phenomenon appeared to be entirely natural."

Kes continued, saying, "When _Voyager_ dropped out of coaxial warp in this sector, I recognized the warp signature through the dimensional link."

"How was that possible?" asked Torres

Kes answered, "The burst from your coaxial drive superimposed itself over _Voyager's_ regular warp signature and amplified it. I couldn't have missed it if I tried."

Kes turned to Janeway and said, "I somehow had a feeling when I left the last time that I'd see everyone again someday. Recognizing that warp signature felt like an invitation. For the past few days, I've been unable to shake the feeling that everyone onboard was thinking about me. I've missed all of you so much."

"As we have missed you, Kes," replied Tuvok. He thought for a moment and then said, "I take it then that the Traveler provides you with guidance for your developing abilities."

"Yes," answered Kes. "He told me that his species' sole purpose was to guide and support gifted individuals in the evolution of their mental abilities. I always had the potential and desire to be an Ocampa Elder and healer, but because my connection with all of you brought me to the Traveler's attention, I've now exceeded even that. Not only will I help guide my race far into the future when my abilities as an Enlightened Elder are fully developed, but as a part of the Guiding Consortium, I'll be able to assist any race that wishes my help."

"Guiding Consortium?" asked Tuvok.

"It's a group of highly evolved beings, Tuvok. It includes the Preservers, the Orgonians, and the Continuum among others, and they all work together to maintain galactic stability. Their primary task is to preserve life and keep evolution moving forward. The members of the Consortium don't interfere in the natural unfolding of someone's powers or a civilization's development, but they help even out any unforeseen problems that would interrupt the process."

"I'm not so sure about the Continuum and galactic stability, Kes," said Janeway, "but then again, my opinion is based on one rogue Q."

"We haven't seen him since his son was born," said Chakotay. "He told Kathryn that fatherhood had changed him, so I guess he's reformed and hopefully left us alone for good."

Before Chakotay's sentence was even finished, a bright flash of white light momentarily blinded everyone, and the words, "Don't count on it, Tonto," reverberated throughout the clearing.

The light dissipated, revealing Chakotay now wearing buckskins, a large war bonnet, and holding a smoking peace pipe in his hand where a glass of champagne had been. He looked at his outfit and then the pipe.

When Q materialized a split second later in a Starfleet command uniform, the first words out of Chakotay's mouth were, "Wrong tribe."

"Oh, who cares anyway?" asked Q. "Your tribe never did have any fashion sense."

Noting Chakotay's glare, Kes rose from her seat, rested her hands on the table, and leaned forward as she directed her own particularly fierce glare at Q. He flinched visibly.

"Oh all right. Can't have Chuckles here with his tattoo in a bunch, now can we?" said Q. Another bright flash of light came and went with the snap of omnipotent fingers, and Chakotay was back in the clothes he'd worn to the party, but was still holding the peace pipe, which he laid down on the table. Q was nowhere to be seen, but the muttered words "can't an omnipotent being have any fun" hung in the air.

"Glad you're on our side, Kes," Paris observed.

Kes just smiled. She caught Neelix's eyes and said, "When I dropped in, I wasn't quite expecting a party in my honor with moon-ripened champagne."

"Nothing but the best for you, sweeting," said Neelix. He raised his glass and said, "To the adventure, Kes."

"To the adventure, Neelix" she replied.

"The party was Chakotay's idea, Kes," said Janeway, giving credit where credit was due. "He came to me several days ago, saying we had unfinished business. After he explained what he meant, I had to agree. We asked Neelix to hold this year's Prixin in your honor because we feel you'll always be part of our _Voyager _family, and we wanted to remember what life was like when you were here."

"I'm touched that everyone still thinks of me in the present tense," said Kes.

"When you left us, Kes, we believed it was to go on to higher things," said Chakotay. "No one could bear the thought of a memorial service, so we just continued to scan for your lifesigns, and assumed you were out there somewhere."

"We think about you often, Kes," said the Doctor. "The crew deeply appreciated your compassion and insight when you were here, and I for one miss our late night conversations."

Janeway added, "Kes, even without all you did while you were here, we could never forget someone whose parting gift to us was nearly ten years off our journey home. Thank you, from all of us."

"Any gift I might have given you when I left _Voyager_ doesn't even begin to compare to you allowing me to stay in the first place, Captain," said Kes. "It brought me to where I am today. The ability to project objects was the first power the Traveler focused for me as I made my transition, and I wanted to use it to repay everyone's kindness toward Neelix and me when we joined the crew."

Neelix smiled when he heard those words, and quietly slipped away with Alixia, leaving Kes as the center of attention.

Chakotay decided to indulge his curiosity, saying, "Kes, we scanned continuously for your life signs but never detected them."

"You wouldn't, Chakotay," replied Kes. "I'm usually in a state of temporal and spatial flux so I'm out of phase with your dimension except by conscious choice. Transwarp subspace exists outside of what you would recognize as linear spacetime. I slip in and out of the past, present, or future from there just as easily as you walk through a door in this dimension, and I only assume corporeal form when I need to."

"How exactly has your new home affected your lifespan, Kes?" asked the Doctor.

"Well, I'm no longer on Federation Standard Time, Doctor, if that's what you mean," Kes said with a smile, to laughter from the people surrounding her. "I really don't know how to explain it to you except to say that in the transwarp layer, a 9-year life span in this dimension has no meaning anyone would understand."

"Then that must be an Ocampan's dream come true," said Doctor Kesselman.

"It is," said Kes simply.

Torres spoke up. "From what you've been saying, I'm getting the impression that the energy surge that threw us across 9,500 light years in the Northwest Passage was a form of coaxial warp," she said.

"Actually, yes," answered Kes, "but the coaxial technology that brought you to this sector is primitive by comparison. The Traveler's race is so highly evolved that they travel great distances nearly instantaneously by using thought alone. I can't make those tremendous coaxial leaps just yet, but projecting _Voyager_ ten years closer to home was a start."

***

Meantime, while Kes was catching up with her friends, Neelix and his sister Alixia had been walking around the clearing and talking.

Neelix asked for the third time, "Alixia, is it really you? I'm not dreaming, am I?"

"Kes knew what it would mean for you to see me again, so she asked permission to bring me with her in this form," said Alixia patiently.

"I thought you were gone forever," said Neelix.

"Brother, when the Haakonians used the Cascade against us, a race called the Preservers enabled our consciousness and life energy to pass through the metreon cloud and into another place," said Alixia. "Life goes on for us much the same as it always did, but not in a way you would recognize, just as for your Kes. We are dead in your dimension only."

"But I died too, sister, on an away mission, and I didn't see you," Neelix insisted. "There was no Guiding Tree. No one came to lead me to the afterlife. There was nothing. After our Doctor revived me, I felt so empty that after a time, I wished that they had just left me for dead."

"Some things you must simply accept on faith, brother."

Neelix began, "But why..."

"Where is that faith, brother, and your common sense along with it? No one came for you because it was not your time," said Alixia. "Didn't your friends on _Voyager_ revive you?"

"Yes...," said Neelix hesitantly, "but I felt no one here could possibly understand what losing lifelong faith in an afterlife meant to me," he said in a rush. "Not even Commander Chakotay, and he believes in a spirit world."

"You were meant to share their journey since we were no longer here for you in this reality," said Alixia. "When your time comes to join us, I will meet you at the Guiding Tree, and the rest of our family will be with me."

They walked toward the holographic Guiding Tree and sat down on one of the nearby curved benches to continue the conversation.

"Alixia, about six years ago, I met the man who invented the weapon that destroyed our home. His name was Ma'Bor Jetrel," said Neelix. "He came aboard _Voyager_ and told me that I had developed metremia from my emergency rescue work on Rinax after the Cascade. He said he could help me. When I asked him if he felt guilty about what he had done, he said he did what he had to do, and that millions more on both sides would have died in the war if he hadn't used the Cascade. I refused to let him treat me."

"But you were sick, and he had the cure," said Alixia, aghast.

"As it turned out, sister, that was a lie," said Neelix. "Jetrel used it as a ruse to get Captain Janeway to detour _Voyager_ and take him back to Rinax."

"Why?"

"Because he had advanced metremia himself, sister. He told the Captain that he wanted a sample of the metreon cloud around Rinax to make an antibody to cure me. What he really wanted was to complete his final work to bring back the victims of Rinax."

"Neelix!"

"Yes, sister. He spent all of his time after the Cascade working on a way to rebuild the atomic structure of the disintegrated victims," said Neelix. "He needed _Voyager_'s scanners and transporters to rematerialize the victims. When I asked Captain Janeway, she agreed to let him try."

"And what happened, dear brother?" asked Alixia.

"It almost worked, but in the end, the ship's transporters didn't have enough energy to hold the rematerialized matter together. The Captain had to shut the system down."

Neelix paused for a moment, gathering strength for his next words. "I forgave him, Alixia," he said. "I went to him just before he died, and I forgave him. Continuing to hate Jetrel would have kept me from remembering you, so of course I had to let all that go."

"I'm glad," said Alixia.

"It was a mixed blessing, sister. Once I didn't have that hate anymore, I held onto believing that I would see all of you again someday in the Great Forest. When I died and no one was there, there was nothing left. I almost succeeded in ending my life, but my friends here on _Voyager_ wouldn't let me. They told me that no one else makes them feel the way they do when I'm with them."

Alixia replied gently, "So you see, brother? You have another family until we are together again in the Great Forest."

"I couldn't see it then, sister," replied Neelix. "I'd just lost my Kessie a few months before, and when it looked like everything I had been taught about the afterlife was just stories for children, I just couldn't go on. I didn't think anyone on _Voyager_ would understand how devastating losing all that was to me."

Chakotay and Torres had walked over in time to overhear the end of the conversation.

"Neelix, your friends understand you a lot better than you think," said Torres. At seeing his bemused expression, she continued. "You know how I've never had much use for anything Klingon – until that time I nearly died and woke up to find myself with my mother on the Barge of the Dead. I can't explain it, Neelix, but I just _know_ we'll be reunited someday... if not in this life, then maybe in Sto-Vo-Kor. I don't know if there really is an afterlife, but if _I_ can hope for one, so can you."

In an effort to lighten the mood, Chakotay said, "I haven't met your sister yet, Neelix."

Neelix stood and said, "Alixia, this is Lieutenant Torres and Commander Chakotay." Alixia nodded to them. Neelix continued, saying, "When I tried to beam myself out into a nebula, the Commander stopped me."

"For which I am grateful," responded Alixia.

"Neelix is the glue that binds this crew together, Alixia," said Chakotay. "I can't imagine what our journey would have been without him."

"You see, brother? You are not without family," said Alixia to Neelix. She turned to Chakotay and her eyes filled as she said, "We had no control over our leaving. After my family crossed over, our grief was almost beyond bearing when we realized our youngest one had been left completely alone." Alixia was so overcome with emotion that she could not continue.

"There, there, Lixxie," said Neelix. "Don't cry. I'm not alone any more." Hoping to distract her, Neelix said, "Your very favorite place is just over that hill..."

Alixia's face brightened. "The Gardens?"

"I asked my friends to help me add something to this holoprogram that would remind me of you, and of course it was the Moonlight Gardens. Would you like to see them? They're just as you remember," said Neelix.

By this time, Tuvok had joined the small group. Chakotay quietly excused himself to join Kes and Janeway, who were seated on a bench at a slight distance from the Guiding Tree and engrossed in conversation. He arrived within earshot in time to hear Janeway talking about the Void.

"...two months with nothing outside the viewports—no ships, no Borg, not even a single star. The crew called it the Void," said Janeway with a shudder. "There was nothing for us to do except use the holodecks or sit around and think. Forgive me, Kes, but I even questioned my decision to destroy the Caretaker's Array to protect your people. I felt personally responsible for the crew's suffering because I'd stranded everyone here."

Kes motioned to Chakotay to sit next to her on the bench, and turning back to Janeway, she said, "No command decision you could have made at the array would have kept _Voyager_ from ending up stranded in the Delta Quadrant anyway. The array was damaged, and probably would not have been able to send you back all the way. You had no more control over that than twenty years ago when you wanted to save your father and fiancé from drowning on Tau Ceti Prime. Those were threads in the fabric of your life that were beyond your ability to affect the outcome."

Janeway was genuinely startled that Kes would know anything at all about the unspoken tragedy from her past.

Kes placed her hand on Janeway's and said gently, "Captain, the Doctor told me in strictest confidence years ago when we treated your head injury from that shuttle crash that nearly killed you. When you described hallucinations of an alien who appeared to you as your father, the Doctor said it was because you still felt guilt for something in the past that was beyond your control, and he felt it was important for me to know the reason."

Chakotay had only sketchy details of the accident Kes alluded to because Janeway had discussed it superficially when he had asked about the significance of the alien entity that had possessed her assuming the appearance of her deceased father.

After her recuperation from the shuttle accident, when Janeway had invited Chakotay to the holodeck for a moonlight sail on Lake George to celebrate having cheated death, she had touched only very lightly on the facts surrounding her father's death to answer Chakotay's questions. Instead, she spoke of how her father would have greatly approved of her switching to a command track, and how this thought had finalized her decision to pursue command once Admiral Paris had made the suggestion. Chakotay did not push to know the specifics of the tragedy, given how painful the subject clearly remained after so many years. He just sat quietly and listened, then as he did now.

"It really was no accident that you were brought here to the Delta Quadrant, in the larger scheme of things," said Kes. "Life arbitrarily took something from you, and just as arbitrarily swept you here, giving you an opportunity to balance that loss, though of course you never thought of it that way at the time. _Voyager's_ presence here in the Delta Quadrant saved many lives that otherwise would have been lost. The Caretaker cast a very wide net with his displacement wave. Haven't you ever wondered why you were brought here, beyond the obvious reason he gave you about needing to reproduce, and why _Voyager_ in particular and not some other ship?"

Janeway was lost in thought for a moment, without an immediate answer. Chakotay just smiled at Kes, believing as he did that a greater pattern can underlie even the seemingly most disparate events in one's life. He remembered reading the words of an ancient Earth prophet named Isaiah who had once written, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways," and he thanked his spirits for the understanding.

Chakotay glanced over as Neelix, Alixia, Tuvok and Torres chose that moment to approach them. He stood, and Kes and Janeway followed his lead. They walked over to join Neelix's group.

"We're going to walk in the Gardens," said Neelix. "Anyone care to join us? Kes?"

"We have so much still to talk about," said Kes, as she stepped over to Neelix, "and I've never seen the Gardens."

"Then by all means," said Alixia.

Kes joined the group and Neelix made a motion to include the Captain and Chakotay as he said, "Captain? Commander?"

"I'm going to call it an evening, Neelix," said Janeway. "Save the program, will you? You can give me a personal tour of the gardens on my next day off."

Neelix beamed. "Of course, Captain."

She turned to the Ocampa and said, "Kes, come see me before you leave?"

"I will, Captain," she replied.

Neelix's group turned to walk down a path that led deeper into the forest toward the Moonlight Gardens of Rinax as Janeway and Chakotay took a different path to leave the holodeck.

***

Deck 3, a few minutes later.

Janeway and Chakotay reached the door to her quarters. Not wanting the evening to end just yet, she asked, "Cup of tea, Chakotay?"

Sensing that Janeway wanted to talk, Chakotay accepted, saying, "Only if you'll allow my rations to do the honors."

She smiled and tossed a "you're on, Commander" over her shoulder as she walked into her quarters and over to the couch to make herself comfortable.

Chakotay brought back two cups of Vulcan spiced tea from the replicator, handing one to her before making himself comfortable on the other end of the couch.

Janeway began, "Well, your 'unfinished business' didn't turn out quite as we expected."

"You're right about that, in a nutshell," he replied. "Just when I think I've got this quadrant figured out, something like tonight comes along to surprise me. It's been a deep space explorer's dream."

"Speaking of which," Janeway said, "remember what you told me when we were in the Void? How our mission to the Delta Quadrant was a success?" Chakotay nodded. "I finally agree with you, Chakotay. Seeing Kes again has lifted some of the weight of responsibility for destroying the Caretaker's array. I still regret stranding everyone here, but I think I can live with it a little easier after tonight."

"Glad to hear it," Chakotay replied. "So tell me, Kathryn, did you ever think we'd see Kes again?"

"Of course, I'd hoped for the best for her return home and would have offered our help if she'd had to come back to _Voyager_ yet again, but truthfully, Chakotay? I didn't think she'd live long enough to reach Ocampa."

Chakotay's face registered his surprise. "Somehow, that's not the answer I'd expect from someone who's always believed that no one is beyond redemption." He shook his head and said, "And you still let her go."

"There was nothing more I could do for her," said Janeway. "She belonged with her people on Ocampa if that's what she felt she needed, so I didn't try to stop her when she said she could make it back. Those last few moments in the transporter room felt like I was saying goodbye forever."

"And seeing her again? The Kes we knew?"

"Words fail me, Chakotay," said Janeway. "I let her go, convinced it was a death sentence, and she found renewal anyway." She smiled as a memory returned unbidden.

Chakotay saw the smile and asked, "What?"

"I'm remembering the day she and Neelix came to my ready room to ask if they could come with us_._ Kes told me her father had taught her that the greatest thing she could do as an Ocampa would be to open her mind to all the experiences and challenges that life had to offer."

Janeway paused to take a sip of her tea, and then said, "I take that room so for granted, Chakotay. She looked around it with such open wonder, the hunger to learn shining in her eyes. The expression on her face took my breath away -- so much so that I couldn't refuse. She reminded me of everything _my_ father had taught me, and why I went into outer space in the first place."

"I've always wondered what it was that finally persuaded you to allow those two to stay onboard," Chakotay responded with a chuckle. He took a sip of his tea, his expression becoming very serious. He was silent for a moment or two, obviously mulling something over.

Janeway asked softly, "Chakotay?"

He said hesitantly, "If I might ask something personal, Kathryn..." She nodded. "You seemed at a loss for words earlier when Kes brought up your father's death."

It was Janeway's turn to hesitate as she carefully sorted through how she wanted to express her thoughts. She began, "It was the most painful time in my life, Chakotay. I was 27, and I lost more than my father. Obviously, Mark wasn't the first man I was going to marry."

Chakotay listened with great interest, never having heard this part of the story about the accident before Kes mentioned it.

Janeway continued. "I met Justin when I was on a surveillance mission with Admiral Paris. His team rescued Owen and I from a Cardassian prison camp, and we became involved not too long after that. One day, about a month after I brought him home to meet my family, Justin and I went out with my father to test a prototype ship on its first long-range flight that he'd been working on for over two years at Utopia Planitia. Justin was going to pilot the _Terra Nova_ while my father supervised and took notes. I was just along for the ride.

"We were on final approach to the Tau Ceti system when they decided to test the new warp thrusters. Solar winds kicked up after about an hour, so they gave the port thrusters one last burst before calling it a day."

Janeway paused to draw a deep breath and let it out with a sigh before continuing. "The last words I ever heard my father say were "wind shear." Next thing I knew, I was very cold and drifting downward. There was a terrible impact and unspeakable agony when I came to face down in a snowbank. Pieces of a ship were scattered around me. The planetary ice sheet had huge fissures in it, filled with water, and I couldn't remember how I'd gotten there. I realized my father and Justin were gone just before I blacked out."

"No wonder you've never said much about it," said Chakotay. "What a terrible loss."

"I was devastated for a long time," responded Janeway, her voice beginning to break. Tears began to well up as she stopped to get her emotions under control.

"You don't have to continue, Kathryn," began Chakotay.

She said, "It's all right, Chakotay. This has been an evening for sharing memories, so if you don't mind listening..." He nodded, and sat patiently waiting for her to continue.

After a few moments to collect herself, Janeway continued. "After Starfleet's inquiry was over, I remembered the accident exactly as I told you for many years. I never made peace with the past. The best I was able to do was to maintain a truce."

She paused for a moment to sip her tea and gather her resolve to finish the story. "When Kes said to me earlier that nothing I could have done would have saved Justin or my father, it touched feelings I'd buried for years until we found ourselves in the Delta Quadrant. For a long time, I felt their deaths were my fault because I took too long to stabilize an annular confinement beam on the one remaining console that had survived the crash.

"They were still alive -- I could see them moving in the main cabin and knew I only had enough power for one site-to-site transport. I rerouted every circuit I could. By the time I found enough power to transport them both, the cabin had slipped beneath the surface of the ice. I tried every command I knew to pull them from that watery grave..." Kathryn's voice faltered to a stop.

Chakotay rested his hand on hers, saying, "Tuvok once told me that guilt was your constant companion, and that you were always seeking redemption. Now I know why." He thought for a moment and then said, "Kathryn, you were faced with a choice no one should ever be asked to make. You did your best with equipment that was probably far more damaged than you realized at the time."

"That's what the psychologists at Starfleet Medical told me. They were right, of course, but part of me has always felt I could've done more, and eventually I was able to bury the guilt. Once I assumed my first command, I vowed I would never abandon a member of my crew. I'm honest enough to admit that part of me probably is still looking for personal redemption. I'm sure that's some of the reason behind my decision to destroy the array -- that this time, I _could_ make a difference and save more than one life."

Chakotay responded, "The crew deeply appreciates your devotion to their welfare, Kathryn, and the Ocampa have you to thank for their future. Believe me when I say it."

"I guess in her own way, that's what Kes was trying to tell me -- win some, lose some."

"That's part of it," said Chakotay. You've done the right thing more often than not, Kathryn, even when you don't think so. For instance, I know what having to stop Kes from turning us over to the Viideans cost you."

"Chakotay, she understood. There wasn't a shred of anger or resentment when I spoke to her about it this evening."

"Then there's your permission to forgive yourself, Kathryn," said Chakotay. "The next time you feel like questioning your decisions, go spend some time talking to Crewman Billy Telfer or Tal Celes. Those are just two of the many lives your command out here has changed. One day, when this journey is finally over, we'll all look back on these years as the finest of our lives."

The door chimed before she could reply. Janeway wiped away a stray tear and took a few moments to compose herself before answering.

"You're presentable, Kathryn," Chakotay said with a smile.

She smiled back and then called out, "Come in."

The door opened to reveal Tuvok and Kes. "Am I interrupting?" asked Kes.

"You're not. Please come in, both of you," replied Janeway as she began to rise to meet them.

"Don't get up, Captain," said Tuvok. "I am already overdue for Delta shift. I made certain to bring Kes to you because what she has been telling me will be of interest to you. If you will excuse me."

"Dismissed."

Tuvok inclined his head and turned to leave.

Chakotay rose to leave as well, assuming that the two women wanted privacy, but Kes said, "Please stay, Chakotay." He glanced at Janeway, who nodded. The door hissed shut behind Tuvok as Chakotay sat down again in the same spot on the couch.

Kes sat on an ottoman to Janeway and Chakotay's right so that she could see both of them as they all conversed. "I wanted to talk to both of you, but I didn't want to drop in unannounced again," she said with the glimmer of a smile.

"That was quite an entrance earlier," said Janeway.

"Yes, you caused a pretty big commotion, Kes," Chakotay said with a smile. "That's more positive excitement than we've had in a while."

With that, the glimmer became a full-fledged grin. "Once I realized what was going on, I couldn't resist surprising everyone," said Kes.

"I only wish half of our surprises were as welcome," said Janeway.

"Thank you, Captain," said Kes. "When I sensed everyone thinking about me, I couldn't stay away, especially after I detected _Voyager's_ signature." She glanced down for a moment. "I appreciate your not telling the crew what I tried to do the last time I was here."

"Kathryn held a senior staff meeting to say you came to see her on a private matter and miscalculated your approach to _Voyager_," Chakotay said. He chuckled and continued. "After that, we just let Harry gossip."

Kes giggled and said, "Yes, that would be Harry."

"Kes, everyone on this ship loves you," Janeway said with feeling. "Neelix didn't want anything to change that, so we didn't say a word. And now, seeing you again... this miracle..."

"Captain, you know I forgave you for stopping my vendetta, once I finally came to my senses," said Kes. "You did what was necessary to protect your crew. Preventing that timeline is what gave me this second chance."

"Finally – a temporal anomaly that's done some good for a change," said Janeway. "I'm just glad Starfleet won't be involved with time travel on a regular basis until long after I've retired. I don't need the headaches it gives me."

"True, but if it makes you feel any better, _Voyager's_ data on anomalies will provide the basis for the temporal advances of the 29th century," said Kes. "Where do you think all the fundamental knowledge to create time travel technology came from? Of all the data you'll be bringing back when you get home, that's what will turn out to be the most valuable."

"As Tuvok would say, that's implausible, but not necessarily illogical," said Janeway. She sighed. "We may never get home, Kes."

The Ocampa just smiled and said, "Stranger things have happened."

"That's true," said Chakotay. "Kathryn, do you remember Harry Kim's message to Harry Kim?"

"Captain?" asked Kes.

"A little over a year after you left us the first time, we tried out an experimental slipstream drive thinking it would get us home," said Janeway, "and if the file we discovered in our flight sensor data afterwards is to be believed, _Voyager_ was destroyed with all hands lost because we fell out of the slipstream. Harry Kim from 15 years in the future apparently found a way to save us from that fate."

"That reminds me of something I once read by a noted late 20th century spiritual leader," said Chakotay. "He said that if you think what you see is everything that's going on, then you're not seeing everything that's going on."

Kes laughed and said, "Wonderful! That's it exactly."

"I'll take your word for it, Kes," said Janeway. "I know there are connections among the different layers of the multiverse that I don't control and can't even begin to understand, much to my regret." She smiled and said, "I'd rather hear more about this miraculous transformation of yours. You said you're going to become a modern-day Enlightened Elder?"

"Yes, Captain," answered Kes. "That's part of a very old tradition among the Ocampa. It's not just fables as Toskat tried to insist that time you came with me to meet Daggin when you were looking for your missing people on Ocampa."

"Yes, I remember," said Janeway. "You asked Toskat to speak aloud because we weren't telepathic."

"I knew I could eventually become an Elder because I've been able to understand telepathic speech on a very high level from infancy. All my people are telepathic to some degree, but only the ones who have the psionic ability at the highest levels can even be considered for that honor."

"And the Enlightened Elders?" asked Chakotay.

"After we lost our advanced powers, there weren't any left until my transformation," said Kes. "The Enlightened Elders were considered to be the ruling class on Ocampa, and their loss was tragic for us, which is why the Traveler started my apprenticeship by guiding me toward assuming that role. Once I've mastered all it involves, he'll teach me how to extend my influence. The Enlightened Elders of old had telepathic abilities that reached throughout the entire quadrant and even beyond."

"That's an enormous responsibility, Kes," said Janeway. "It's easy to understand how being unable to control that much power would have affected you and made you angry enough to return to punish us."

"That wouldn't have happened if only I'd met the Traveler earlier in my transformation," said Kes. "In ancient times, his race was the one that determined who was developed enough mentally and receptive to accepting their guidance into completion of the process. I had developed the mental ability, but thought I could control it all on my own. That was my mistake, Captain, and I am so sorry."

"No need to apologize, Kes. In the end, it all worked out for the best," said Janeway. "I've often wondered how the Ocampa were surviving, since their energy from the Caretaker must have run out by now. You're in a position to make a real difference for your people. That far outweighs any misjudgments you might have made."

"I appreciate your understanding, Captain," said Kes, "and I have you to thank for your part in assisting in the rebirth of Ocampa society through me. Eventually, there will be others who will ascend, and we will all participate in the healing of the quadrant. It's all down to your influence and what I learned from you."

"Kes..."

"'For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see; saw the Vision of the World, and all the wonder that would be'."

Janeway smiled and said, "_Voyager's_ dedication plaque."

"It inspired me every time I read it," said Kes. "It always renewed my hope for the future and reminded me that there are still so many wonders left to experience, even greater than what's happened to me so far."

"'O, I see the crescent promise of my spirit hath not set. Ancient founts of wisdom well through all my fancy yet'," Chakotay said.

"Commander?"

"Two more lines from the same 19th Century Earth poem, Kes," said Chakotay. "When I first read _Voyager's_ dedication plaque, I thought it was a curious choice of words for a starship. The man in the poem was someone who wanted to hang onto the past. He had his doubts about technology."

"Then I feel sorry for him," said Kes. "There are so many more wonders to be seen in this universe than anyone could ever imagine."

"And we have seen wonders, haven't we, Kes?" said Janeway.

"With more yet to come before you reach home," said Kes.

"Home...," Janeway said, misty-eyed. "Knowing that you found your 'ancient founts of wisdom' renews my sense of hope, Kes."

"Just as you renewed mine," said Kes, "the day you allowed me to join V_oyager_ on your journey. You made it possible for me to become what I had only dreamed about. When my transformation began, you gave me your blessing and let me go. Without your help, I would never have known what I could have been, and my people would have remained dependent, instead of one day seeing the sun, just as my mother predicted I would the day I was born. The Ocampa would not have survived, had I not met you."

"If I was able to help in any way..." said Janeway.

"Your simple act of kindness sent a ray of hope far into an ever broadening future to a day when I would be able to help my people," said Kes. "Tuvok provided the final link."

"Where he does fit in all of this?" asked Janeway.

"That final meld as I was leaving three years ago forged an unbreakable telepathic bond with him, and by extension, all of you," said Kes. "Time and space flow together in one seamless piece where I exist now."

Kes made a sweeping gesture with her right arm, opening a spatial fissure. A hissing sound began and a nucleogenic creature suddenly appeared. It hovered briefly, and was gone.

"One of the Ankari 'spirits of good fortune,'" Chakotay said, once he recovered his voice from the shock of seeing the deadly creature again.

"Yes, Chakotay," Kes said. "They can sense where they would be a blessing to people whose minds are receptive. Their role in the larger scheme of things is to work with telepaths across time and space to aid in restoration and balance. That's why the Ankari worship them – they don't understand what these creatures do because it's so many levels above their limited consciousness, but the Ankari know that these 'spirits' are a force for good."

Turning to Janeway, she asked, "Do you remember what you found so remarkable about Ocampa's atmosphere?"

"No nucleogenic particles," said Janeway. "Clouds couldn't form, so it couldn't rain."

"'Spirits of Good Fortune' is a good name for them, Captain," said Kes. "The Traveler took me back to Ocampa so that I could begin my apprenticeship there. Soon after I arrived, these unusual creatures appeared and seeded our atmosphere with nucleogenics."

"The Caretaker brought a second Starfleet crew to the array, Kes," said Janeway. "They were murdering these lifeforms to use as fuel to speed their trip home."

"When you stopped the killing, it resonated across so many dimensional layers," said Kes. "In return for your help, these 'Spirits of Good Fortune' seeded Ocampa's atmosphere with nuculeogenic particles because of my link to _Voyager_. There isn't a thing that happens to you and the rest of the crew that does not touch me eventually. Part of what being an Enlightened Elder means is that we serve as a nexus for healing energy to flow among dimensions."

"Amazing," said Janeway.

"What you have to understand, Captain, is that the universe is alive and connected across dimensions on a scale you couldn't even begin to imagine," said Kes. "One action resonates in so many layers. That's why the universe has a power to heal itself that is almost beyond comprehension."

"It sounds like some form of quantum entanglement," said Janeway.

"Whatever you want to call it, Captain, it means we're all stuck with each other," said Kes.

Her comment produced laughter all around. When they settled down again, Kes asked, "Captain, have you given any thought to what your legacy in this quadrant will be?"

Janeway thought for a moment, then said, "I've accepted that part of our early reputation as a 'ship of death' may have been due in part to that other Starfleet ship the Caretaker brought to the Array, and I'm sure the Kazon and Seska also had plenty to say." She paused again to think for a moment and then said, "We've made our share of enemies, Kes, but I've tried to redeem _Voyager's_ good name for posterity by our actions ever since Tanis first told us we were known by that reputation."

"You have, Captain, and more," said Kes. "You never asked to be dragged across the galaxy and involved in Ocampa's problems. Our future hung in the balance, and you chose life for us. You remained true to your ideals rather than living by what you had lost, and so you made _Voyager _an instrument of hope and restoration to a ravaged people. You gave us strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow."

"Kes, we've tried to live as much as possible by Federation principles," said Janeway. "The only reasonable course I could see was to consider _Voyager_ the first Starfleet vessel posted to the Delta Quadrant. We needed that sense of connection to give us hope and a destination. If by holding to our ideals, we've made some greater difference..."

"Captain, if you'd lived my life, you would understand the full extent of what you've accomplished. We were once a highly advanced culture until that was taken away. But cultures rise and fall and rise again. Putting principle above expedience wiped away the 'debt that can never be repaid.' Someday, the Ocampa _will_ use all their mental powers for the benefit of others. It will take many years by how you reckon time, but one day you and all of _Voyager_ will be remembered as the ones who began the healing of an entire quadrant."

Janeway began, "Kes, there was always something about you I just couldn't put into words…"

"I know what you mean, Captain" she replied. "The first time I heard the compassion in your voice, I knew I would follow it wherever it led," said Kes.

"And here we are," said Janeway.

"Here we are," said Kes.

Janeway and Chakotay sat quietly for a while, taking time to absorb Kes's words. Finally, Chakotay said, "I hope our future turns out as well as yours, Kes. We're more than halfway back and have regular contact with Starfleet now, but Earth is still at least 25 years away at warp 8, assuming _Voyager_ holds together that long. The Doctor has already run generational projections."

"I'm sure the two of you needed to talk about that, but don't settle for it, Chakotay," said Kes. _Voyager's_ future still holds endless possibilities, even if your work here is not yet finished. There are wonders for you still to see, and lives for you still to touch. Along every possible course you could follow is something that will lead _Voyager_ further toward its destination, and you'll reach home within your lifetime, no matter what happens. There will still be enough left of what you knew for you to pick up the broken threads of your lives."

"Kes!" exclaimed Janeway, her voice just above a whisper.

"I'm not violating any Temporal Prime Directive by telling you, Captain," said Kes. You've already lit the way home with your ideals. Not the Federation's – _yours_."

Kes gently took Janeway's hands in hers as she moved from the ottoman she had been sitting on to kneel before her former Captain, much as she had knelt at her own mother's knee as a child. She sat back so she could look deeply into Janeway's eyes.

"I came back tonight to thank you for the future you returned to me," she said. "I have no doubt whatsoever that you _will_ reach Earth." Kes's eyes became distant as she remembered. "You see, I've already stood together with your family and watched as you came home. _Voyager_ soared through a cloud of antimatter fireworks that filled the sky. It was so beautiful..."

Janeway was deeply moved by her words. Tears welled and slid quietly down her face.

"You'll see it for yourself," Kes said. She released Janeway's hands as she stood and backed away slightly to face them both as Chakotay laid his hand on Janeway's arm in support.

"Now who's sent a ray of hope far into the future, Kes?" asked Chakotay, in a voice husky with emotion. "I'm sure Kathryn would agree, but I'm afraid you've left her speechless."

Janeway nodded, too overcome to speak.

"There's no need to say another word, Captain," said Kes. "We'll see each other again when you reach home. I promise."

With those words, Kes faded from view.

Janeway sat quietly as she remembered something Lyndsay Ballard had once said to her: _"Never harbor anger toward those who brought you death, for they gave you the chance to live again."_ She struggled to regain her composure, and finally stood and walked over to the farthest viewport.

Chakotay gave her a few moments for her emotions to settle down before he rose from his seat to join her. He rested his hand on her shoulder in reassurance.

"I'm all right, Chakotay," she finally said, "just a little overwhelmed."

"You? Overwhelmed?" he asked with a smile.

"It's been quite an evening," Janeway said, finally looking at him. She turned back to the viewport, thought for a few moments and then said, "I could use your advice. As long as you've known me, I've always put science above spirituality. I'm not sure what to do about an answered prayer."

"Kathryn?" He moved to be able to see Janeway's face as they spoke.

Janeway smiled, saying, "Do you remember the day you introduced me to my animal guide?"

"Like it was yesterday."

"We'd only been in the Delta Quadrant a few weeks, just fighting to survive." She paused, remembering. "Those few minutes in your spirit world gave me such peace that I performed the ritual again that night in my quarters. I recited the a-koo-chee-moya, and said that I hoped there would be one powerful being who would embrace this good crew and give them the answer they seek."

She looked at him and said, "I never once thought I would know that being's name..."

Chakotay smiled and said, "Another gift from Kes, in gratitude for her life's promise fulfilled."

Janeway relaxed when she heard the warmth in his voice. Chakotay moved closer and put an arm around her shoulders. As he drew her closer, she reached up to gently touch his cheek and smile, and then they turned to look out the viewport.

They stood there for a very long time, silently watching the stars flow past as Earth drew them inexorably home.

FIN.


End file.
